Far From Home
by sinemoras09
Summary: The events that take place in the aftermath of the current arc. Ensemble. Background Kazuma/Bishamon. Spoilers for chapter 65. AU. Complete.
1. Ablution

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Yukine helped with the ablution.

Kazuma screamed. Yukine had never seen anyone so anguished. The walls of the borderline shimmered as Yukine and Kuraha held their arms and strengthened their halberd, Nana glaring and gritting her teeth while Bishamon crouched on the ground, watching them.

"I've done things." Kazuma's voice, which was normally so measured, was weak. Breaking. "I've done terrible things to protect my master."

The borderlines tightened. The phantoms wings which had sprouted from the meat of Kazuma's back began to crumble, falling around him like ash. "I killed my comrades. I slaughtered my family in the Ma clan. I cut off Tsuguha's head."

Kuraha said nothing. Nana's face was a mask.

"I betrayed my best friend and my student, all for love of my master!"

His face contorted as he fell into hollow sobs.

"I justified it." Tears rolled down the sides of his face, which was marred and disfigured by phantoms. "I thought what I was doing was right. But it wasn't and I'm sorry." He wept, unbidden. "I'm sorry and I don't deserve to be her exemplar."

The last of the impurities fell away. Kuraha nodded and Yukine and Nana released their borderlines, watching as Kazuma wept on his knees, his head bowed toward the ground, his spirit once again pure and unbroken. Yukine didn't say anything. His eyes fell onto the cracked mark on Kazuma's hand.

xXx

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That night, Yukine and Yato headed home.

"Well, fuck," Yato said. He was standing in the mirror looking at the tattered remains of his god's robe, the one he had spent weeks weaving by hand on a loom. "So much for this thing, huh, Yukine?"

"Whatever," Yukine said, and he tossed his clothes into the hamper and rolled onto the futon.

Yato was quiet. Silently Yukine switched on the lamp by his bed and rolled so that his back was facing him, staring out into the darkness and not saying anything.

"Yo Yukine?"

"What?"

"You wanna get a bath?" Yato's voice sounded normal. As if this were a normal night after a normal day fighting phantoms, even though they had narrowly escaped with their lives and had almost been charged with treason for helping Bishamon. "I think they're still open. And no offense, Yukine, but ya kinda sorta stink a little."

"Says the one with the BO and the pit stains-"

"This is a godly musk! And what the hell, Yukine, that's why I was suggestin' we go to the baths!"

"Whatever," Yukine said, and he sat up, pushing up the covers.

"So that a yes?" Yato said. Yukine pulled on his shirt and glared.

xXx

.

The baths were barely populated at this hour. Yukine sank into the water while Yato splashed and made an ass of himself, but fortunately there weren't that many patrons nearby and nobody noticed them anyway. He tried to ignore the series of shallow cuts that peppered Yato's skin and focused on the steam and the warmth of the water.

 _Keep control. Need to keep control._ Yukine silently chanted to himself. It was something that helped him when he started to lose focus, when his emotions were roiling and threatening to bubble over. Yato glanced at him, then splashed his face with water.

"H-hey!"

"Oi, Yukine! Quit bein' a wimp and talk to me, okay?"

Yukine glared.

"Hey, c'mon," Yato said. "We had a rough day. It's okay if you wanna complain about it."

"You got scratches," Yukine said. Yato blinked then glanced down at his chest and arms. "Your arm's been cut to shit and you're wounded all over."

"C'mon, Yukine, this is no big deal. I've had a lot worse. Dontcha know how long I've been a god?"

"You've been a shitty minor god with lotsa shitty shinki. I let you get wounded! I have no excuse!"

"Yukine-"

"Dammit!" Yukine said, and he stood up, angrily swiping the back of his wrist against his eye. The other men in the bath glanced at them briefly before returning to their own conversations.

They dressed and walked outside, Yukine's hands stuffed deep in his pockets while Yato walked beside him.

"Sorry about the bath," Yukine said.

"S'okay," Yato said. Yukine glared.

"It's just-" Yukine started.

"Yeah?"

"It's just, _I hate him!_ " Yukine said. Yato turned. "He was Bishamonten's exemplar, he was supposed to be my teacher! He called you his benefactor! He was supposed to be your friend!"

"He still is, y'know," Yato said. He looked up at the sky quietly. "I don't know much about family. All I know is, sometimes family can do shit things to each other, but at the end of the day they're still your family."

"Kazuma-san is _not_ your family," Yukine said.

Yato glanced at Yukine, then looked back at the sky, thoughtfully.

"Kazuma helped me out when no one else would." Yukine glanced up at Yato, who seemed to be considering his words. "He's the reason why I was able to break away from Nora and my dad. He helped me when I didn't have any good shinki. He helped you too," Yato said, his blue eyes turning, meeting his. "And he's had a hard time dealin' with this."

"Tch. Whatever," Yukine said, and he kicked a rock, glaring. "If he feels so bad how come he's not apologizing?"

"He probably feels ashamed." Yato walked forward. Moonlight fell on the tops of his scarf and jersey, which seemed traced with a silver starlight, and for a brief moment, Yukine saw a bit of that godly aura he was fairly sure other gods had around them all the time. "Anyway, that guy's stupid crazy in love with Bishamon, and up 'til now she didn't know about it. He's probably dealin' with the fallout from that."

"What are they gonna do?" Yukine said. Yato turned and shrugged.

"I dunno, Yukine. But I doubt he's gonna stay Bishamon's exemplar."

Yukine let the words sink heavily, weighing the cool night air.

"You think Bishamon-sama is going to excommunicate him?" Yukine glanced up at Yato.

"Probably not," Yato said. "That crazy chick's too attached." And Yukine remembered the end of the ablution, how Bishamon hugged Kazuma-san as he wept helplessly. _"You and I are so alike, Kazuma. I did terrible things for love of my shinki, too."_

"Yuki! Yato-chan!" Kofuku was at the door waiting for them. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah," Yukine said. Yato clapped his shoulder and grinned.

"See that, Kofuku? My kid's a super tough kid!"

"Huh?" Yukine said, and Yato threw his arm around his shoulder.


	2. Punishment

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"Bishamon. As punishment for your crimes, you will be stripped of your godly name, face mandatory expulsion from heaven, and finally, be required to release your hafuri. What say you, War God Bishamon?"

Bishamon looked up. Fresh from combat, she stood in the tattered remains of her ballgown, battered and bleeding. Her hair was tangled and streaks of dried blood and dirt streaked across her chin.

"Thank you," Bishamon said, and she lifted her eyes to look at them. "For your mercy."

The columns of light shimmered. There was a ripple in the crowd.

They led Bishamon and Kazuma into a grassy field. Flanked by heaven's guards, Bishamon was led with her hands bound behind her back. Quietly one shinki stepped forward and used a knife to cut the thick braid of rope tied around her wrists. The ropes dropped. The heaven's guard looked on as Bishamon raised her arm.

" _Chouki_ ," Bishamon said, and Kazuma lifted his eyes. " _I hereby release you, Chouki._ "

The name shattered. They shared a look that said more than anything they could ever say out loud.

xXx

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"Ane-sama!" Aiha said. Her shinki had been holed up in Ebisu's compound, awaiting heaven's verdict. "Ane-sama! Don't worry! No one cares that we were expelled from heaven! We'll stay beside you, no matter what!"

"Don't worry, Ane-sama," Kinuha said. "We'll make sure you don't lose your followers."

"Ojou is a strong god, heaven's ally or not," Kuraha said. Bishamon smiled.

"Chijou-san!" little Ebisu said. He waved and ran over to her, nearly tripping over his shoes. "Chijou-san! Are you feeling better?"

"I am," Bishamon said. "Thank you for letting my family stay here, Ebisu."

"Of course!" Ebisu beamed at her. "Chijou-san helped my previous incarnation! Of course I had to return the favor."

They walked into the courtyard. Her shinki flanked around her, chattering and energetic. If a shinki's negative emotions weakened their master, so too did their positive emotions strengthen them. For a moment, Bishamon's wounds didn't hurt quite as bad; her muscles weren't as stiff, and she could feel the warmth and happiness of everyone around her.

"Aiha," Bishamon said. "Kinuha. Kuraha. Akiha, Kazuha, Karuha." Her shinki stopped. Bishamon smiled. "I want to thank you all for helping me. I couldn't have gone this far without you."

"Of course, Ane-sama."

"We would never abandon you, Ane-sama."

"Thank you," Bishamon said, but her eyes filled with tears. "You are all good children, each and every one of you. A mother could not ask for more."

"Ane-sama?" they shared a worried look.

"Ebisu has offered to give you all names." Bishamon smiled. "It was my negligence that destroyed the Ma and Ha clans. You are all the family I have left. But as a nameless god, I cannot protect you."

"Ane-sama! You can't do this!" Aiha said, but Kinuha gripped her arm.

"I'm sorry," Bishamon said. A tear slipped down her cheek. "If you leave with me, you'll never get to see heaven. And if my followers forget me, you'll all end up as strays. I love you all and I can't allow that to happen."

"Ane-sama." Her shinki were stricken.

They hugged her. One shinki after another, piling around her, warmth and love and grief, and Bishamon could feel their emotions wrapping around her like a blanket. A moment passed until Kuraha nodded, pulling away first, before the others dropped their arms and reluctantly followed.

"Kinki," Bishamon said, lifting her fingers into a halberd. "Shouki. Jinki. Saiki. Suki. Gaiki."

Their names hovered. "I hereby release you," she said, and she drew a slash through the air.


	3. Poltergeist

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It was Yama-chan who broke the news first.

"Something's haunting Bishamon's shrine!"

"What?" Hiyori said. Yama-chan and Ami-chan glanced at each other.

"Didn't you know?" Yama said. "Ever since that typhoon people's been saying weird things have been turning up at the shrine."

The "typhoon" Yama was talking about was actually that whole debacle with Bishamon attacking the heavens. The last Hiyori had heard about it, Bishamon-sama was struck of her godly status and classified as a God of Calamity. The heaven's decree didn't change people's faith, though, so her shrines still remained.

The haunting was news to her, though: maybe it was part of Bishamon-sama's punishment?

"People are scared to go there," Ami said. "There's a ghost that's hanging around."

"Ghost?" Hiyori frowned at them doubtfully.

"Yeah, Hiyori! Wanna go check it out?"

xXx

.

For the past year or so, Bishamon's shrine had been associated with an idol group that had filmed a movie near there, and so the majority of her worshipers were really teenage fans, writing wishes and prayers about their favorite idol. It annoyed Yato to no end. "One of the seven gods of fortune, riding on the coattails of some friggin' idol group!" Yato said. "The great Bishamonten traces her origins back to the distant mythology of India and is beloved all over Asia! And you would have her extort money from other idol worshipers?!"

Kazuma at the time just shrugged it off. "There's nothing wrong with extending our reach to the youthful demographic," Kazuma said.

Now there were no giddy fans or other teenagers here; even the caretakers of the temple seemed curiously absent. Hiyori glanced around the temple and was struck by how barren it looked; the temple loomed, ominous and foreboding, while the tattered remnants of red lanterns swung uneasily against a gust of wind. "Spooky," Yama said, and Ami took out her camera.

But ayakashi couldn't go on temple grounds; there was no way evil spirits could reside here.

"What was that?!" Ami yelped. Yama jumped and whirled around.

"What was what?" Hiyori said. The other two girls huddled and clung to each other.

"I thought I heard something." Ami's face was pale.

"S-shut up, Ami, you're just trying to scare us," Yama said.

"No, guys, I heard something," Ami said. "It's over there."

"Over where?" Yama said.

"There," Ami said, and as they stepped closer they saw it: the faint outline of a man, his figure so translucent he practically faded into the background. They stepped closer and the man turned, stark green eyes lifting toward them.

"Hello?" Kazuma said, and the girls screamed and ran, leaving Hiyori alone by the wall.

xXx

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"My apologies, Iki-san. I did not realize how much I've deteriorated." Kazuma was standing - no, floating - beside her, frowning a little and hovering by the wall. "A god's life force is what gives us spirits shape and form. Usually it takes a few months after being released before we get like this, but I suppose the ablution took its toll."

"Is that why you're not wearing your glasses?" Hiyori said. In her pocket, her phone buzzed with frantic texts from Yama-chan and Ami-chan. Kazuma nodded quietly.

"Indeed," Kazuma said. "As I am now, I can no longer interact directly with objects from the Near Shore."

It was strange. Kazuma sounded as placid and unruffled as ever, but as Hiyori looked at him, she could understand why Ami-chan and Yama-chan were so frightened. Instead of his uniform, he was wearing a tattered green kimono, which was worn and fraying along the edges. His face was gaunt and there were dark circles around his eyes, and if Hiyori didn't know him, he looked every bit like a poltergeist or vengeful spirit she'd see in the movies. "This is probably what I was wearing when I died," Kazuma said, by way of explanation. "Spirits usually manifest wearing the garments in which they were buried. It seems no one was around to properly bury me."

"So you really remember how you died?" Hiyori said, and her eyes widened. She clapped her hands over her mouth, realizing that Kazuma probably still didn't know a God's Greatest Secret. Kazuma smiled kindly.

"Do not worry, Iki-san. Along with my physical body, the memories that were sealed away by Veena's name have also returned. I suspect it is a side effect of getting hit with the sorcerer's staff, but as you can see, it hasn't otherwise affected me. You don't have to worry about keeping a God's Greatest Secret from me."

"Oh," Hiyori said, relieved. Kazuma squatted down beside her.

"It is of little consequence," Kazuma said. He looked up at the ceiling, quietly. "The twenty odd years of my human life are nothing compared to the millenia I've spent by Veena's side. I only regret that things turned out this way."

"But why are you in Bishamon-sama's shrine?" Hiyori said. "Couldn't you find another god to take you as their shinki?"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Kazuma said. "I wouldn't want to burden another god with my past. Veena is the only god I've ever wanted to serve, but unfortunately I have no way of defending myself. I thought I could stay in Veena's shrine a bit until I could regroup."

Kazuma folded his hands in his lap; his right hand looked odd without Bishamon-sama's mark. She watched as he quietly tucked his hand into his sleeve. "How is Yukine?" he asked, and his eyes flicked upwards.

"Oh, Yukine-kun is fine! He and Yato are still go around fighting phantoms. Ebisu-sama has taken Bishamon-sama's shinki and Nana-chan is staying at Kofuku's house."

"She is?" Kazuma looked surprised. Hiyori shrugged.

"I think Kofuku-san threatened to open a vent or something. I don't really know the details, but Nana-chan and Bishamon-sama have been staying with them." It was nice, actually, Hiyori coming back from school to see Yukine and Nana studying in the attic. She watched as Kazuma shifted his weight quietly, tugging at the hem of his sleeves and picking at a thread from his kimono.

"So Veena still has a shinki," Kazuma said, after a long moment. Hiyori looked up at him and he smiled sadly.

"I'm glad. I wouldn't want her trapped on the Near Shore alone."


	4. Poltergeist, part 2

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"Yo Kazuma are you stupid or something? Dontcha know you're scarin' away Bishamon's followers?"

Yato was in Bishamon's shrine, squatting in front of Kazuma's haunting spot. He looked even worse than the last time he had seen him: sunken eyes and hollow cheeks, the length of his limbs all bony and skeletal. "Yato it's more complicated than that," Kazuma said. "Before Iki-san found me I was unaware of my current state. I assure you I'm giving the Near Shore humans a wide berth."

"Too little too late, Kazuma! They think the shrine is haunted."

"Well," Kazuma said. "Technically it is." Yato rubbed his neck and frowned.

"Yo Kazuma, ya know, Bishamon is kinda depressed about the whole situation. I mean, personally I think it's hilarious, since she's now a God of Calamity and I'm a God of Fortune-"

"Dammit, Yato," Kazuma said.

"My point being is, I don't think she's gonna come here." Yato crossed his arms, waiting for a response. Kazuma sighed heavily.

"I know," Kazuma said. "In fact I was rather counting on it." Yato's eyes narrowed.

"The hell are you going on about?" Yato said. Kazuma spread his hands.

"I'm unworthy of her," Kazuma said. "She already released me. There's no reason why I should sully her presence."

"Dammit Kazuma, keep this up and I'm just gonna name you!" Yato said. "I'll name you Stupid and your vessel will be Dumbass, and your weapon form will be somethin' more useless than a nail."

"I appreciate the sentiment, Yato, but I promise you I'm fine."

Yato watched Kazuma, silently. A spirit that falls to despair will turn into an ayakashi, but the influence of the holy grounds as well as his recent ablution seemed to be protecting him. Kazuma seemed to know what he was thinking, though, because he smiled wanly. "Don't worry, Yato, I know what is at stake."

"Anyone tell ya that's really creepy when you do that?" Yato said. Kazuma smiled.

"By the way, Yato," Kazuma said, and he hesitated, "how is Yukine?"

"Pissed," Yato said. "He thinks his senpai doesn't care about him." Kazuma's brow furrowed.

"Will you... Will you apologize for me to him?" Kazuma lifted his eyes hesitantly.

"Tch," Yato said. "Apologize to him yourself."

"I'll give you five yen," Kazuma said. Yato snorted.

"Yeah right, Kazuma, where's a ghost gonna get five yen?"

"I suppose that was a long shot, since you're now a God of Fortune."

"Ha ha, that's right Kazuma! I'm too busy sowing wealth and happiness, unlike that stupid skank you called your master!"


	5. Earlier

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"War God Yatogami, for your willful defiance of Heaven's Plans as well as your blatant disregard for the lives around you, we hand down the following sentence:"

Yukine glanced nervously at Yato, but Yato said nothing. His face didn't betray a hint of fear as they began his sentencing. For all they knew, the Heaven's Court would execute them for their insolence, make an example of them so that others wouldn't follow their path. No one knew what happened to Bishamon, and even though the fighting stopped after Father showed his true colors, the Heavens were still angry with her. Together they watched as armed guards flanked her sides and led her and the renegade hafuri away. " _What do you think they're gonna do?_ " Yukine had asked, still in his weapon form and gripped tightly in Yato's hands, but Yato shook his head and whispered. "I don't know, Yukine. I really don't know."

Now the crowd at the court stirred as they waited for the judgment to continue.

"First: you will be stripped of your shrine and your godly name."

"WHAT?!" Yato said. The crowd began whispering to themselves.

"Second: you will relinquish all your holdings of Heaven's Land-"

"HAH?!" Yato said, as an armed shinki stood in front of him and ripped the picture of Yato's dinky-ass plot in half.

"Finally: the followers of the War God Yatogami will be relegated to Cult Status, no longer enjoying the protections of Heaven. War God Yatogami, you are now banished henceforth from Takamagahara."

"NOO!" Yato said, as the voices in the crowd crescendoed in surprise.

The judge slammed down his gavel.

"It's okay, Yato-san!" Ebisu chirped. Yato was sitting outside the courtroom blubbering and trying to fit the pieces of the photograph together while Yukine crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. "These things can always be contested! I bet after this goes to appeal you'll just get a probationary sentence for a few hundred years!"

Yato wailed and dropped his head in his hands. Kofuku patted him on the shoulder.

They went back to Kofuku's and ate hot pot and rice and beer, no one saying anything about the verdict. No one knew what happened to Bishamon, and after the ablution, Kazuma was taken away for sentencing. No one else was allowed to go with him. "It's okay, Yato-chan," Kofuku said. "I bet Bisha is going to be okay. She's probably just gonna be excommunicated. At least she won't be reincarnated," Kofuku said.

"I wish I could be reincarnated!" Yato said. Daikoku poured him another glass of beer.

xXx

.

"Yukine. _Yukine_. They took away my land, Yukine!"

"Ugh, shut up!" Yukine said. They were supposed to be sleeping in the attic, but Yato kept whining about the sentencing. Yukine covered his ears with his hands while Yato sniffed and hugged a pillow.

"Hiyori's worshiping a false god, Yukine." Yato's eyes watered. "Hiyori's part of a cult!"

"Don't cults need more than one person?" Yukine said.

"Dammit, Yukine! Comfort me!" Yato said.

"Go to sleep!" Yukine said, and he rolled over.

At the very least, he calmed his ass down after the baths. And while he was annoyingly fixated on Kazuma-san's ablution, at least he was done blubbering about Yatoism becoming a cult.

No one heard about Bishamon for over a week.

"I bet they're still decidin' their sentence," Daikoku said. He took a drag of his cigarette and exhaled slowly. "There's that renegade hafuri and other things they gotta consider."

"I just hope Bisha and Kazu-chan are okay," Kofuku said.

"If they executed them, we'd hear about it, right?" Yukine said. Kofuku nodded.

"Yes, Yuki. The first thing they would do is announce it all over heaven."

"So Bishamon-sama is still alive." Yukine kicked his feet under the porch. He didn't ask about Kazuma.

"This sucks!" Yato said. He plopped down next to Yukine heavily. "I tasted a part of the good life! And thanks to stupid asshole Dad it all got taken away from me!"

"Ugh, Yato, you were only an official god for a few months! Aren't you worried about Bishamon-sama?"

"She'll be fine." Yato took a swig of beer. "If they were gonna execute her they woulda done it by now. For all we know she might've already been sentenced."

"I was," someone said, and everyone looked up to see Bishamon and Nana standing in front of the rice paper door.

"BISHA!" Kofuku launched forward to hug her. Bishamon took a step back, surprised by the force of Kofuku's weight, while Daikoku went into the kitchen to make them tea. The renegade hafuri held back, watching them suspiciously. "Wow, Bisha! You look terrible! What'd they do with all your clothes?"

"I lost all my worldly possessions to Heaven," Bishamon said, and Yukine noticed for the first time their threadbare clothes, with rips and stains that looked like they were fished out from the garbage. "Like Yato, I too was exiled. I was stripped of my name and banished from heaven."

"Shit," Daikoku said. Bishamon shook her head.

"At the very least, they let us live," Bishamon said. She glanced back at Nana and smiled.

"Oi, what happened to Kazuma?" Daikoku said, as Kofuku brought around a tray of sweets and red bean cake. "Are they still deliberatin' on his sentence?"

"I don't know," Bishamon said. "All I know is that I had to release him."

"WHAT?!" Everyone but Yukine looked up, horrified.

"It was part of my sentencing," Bishamon said. She smiled sadly. "They wouldn't let me say goodbye."

"Fucking heaven," Daikoku said. Kofuku patted Bishamon on the shoulder.

"Ne, ne, Bisha! Why dontcha stay here with me?" Kofuku said. "Yato-chan and Yuki are in the attic, but Daikoku and I have another spare room. It's above the store but you and Nana-chan can have some privacy!"

"Oh, Kofuku-dono, I wouldn't want to impose," Bishamon said. "I only came here to thank Yato and let you all know about my sentencing."

"Oi, Bishamon, you better take her up on her offer." Yato lounged on the porch and held out his bottle of beer. "The streets aren't nice, Bishamon! Take it from me! I was a stray god for _centuries_."

"Thank you for your concern, Yatogami, but Nana and I will be fine," Bishamon said.

"What'd they do with your shrines?" Kofuku said. Bishamon smiled.

"Nothing," Bishamon said. "As things are now, my shrines will remain intact. For all their power, the heavens still can't sway the beliefs of my followers."

"Tch," Yato said. "Just because you have a shrine! Lemme tell ya somethin' honey, sleeping in a shrine _sucks_ , the stones are cold and there's lotsa bugs and junk. You should just stay with us and listen to Kofuku."

"The heavens are not kind to any of my allies," Bishamon said, and she smiled, sadly.

"I don't want to trouble you any further."


	6. Earlier, part 2: Nana

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She could still hear her wishes swirling all around her.

 _My lord Bishamonten, Protector of Heaven and Punisher of Evil, I beg of you to hear my prayer..._

 _My lord Bishamonten, please protect my husband as he goes out on his first voyage..._

 _My lord Bishamonten, I humbly beseech you that your glory lights up a righteous path..._

It was disconcerting hearing all those wishes, and knowing that she could not answer.

Occasionally, someone would use her original name: _Vaisravana_ , and she would call Shikki to her side and answer the wish swiftly and strongly. For every twenty or so wishes that begged for the help of Lord Bishamonten, there were a handful of worshipers who still called her given name. "The heavens can't take that away, Nana," Bishamon said. "I may no longer answer to the name of Bishamonten, but Vaisravana still has worshipers on the Near Shore."

They slept on the steps of her shrine. Like Yato said, sleeping outdoors was less than ideal, and as Nana slept Bishamon's eyes stayed open, listening to the plaintive sounds of ayakashi moaning in the distance. Around them, the shrine's caretakers swept the stone steps and directed her followers into the temple, while Bishamon and Nana watched, unnoticed.

She spent her daylight hours in a fugue state of listless inactivity. She and Nana would wander the streets looking into store windows at the things they could no longer afford, and watching the lively chatter of humans they could no longer properly protect. Occasionally, Bishamon would run into another god or shinki and politely inquire as to the whereabouts of Kazuma, but she would always be met with a quiet shaking of the head and a heartfelt promise to let her know should they see him. "I hope he is okay," Bishamon said.

Nana was lying on her back, tossing a ball. They had found it rolling by the side of the dumpster, and Nana was so intrigued by it she picked it up and tucked it under her arm. "Why wouldn't he be?" Nana said. She tossed the ball up then caught it again. "If he was that good of a shinki he probably was scooped up by another god by now."

"I suppose," Bishamon said. Nana tossed the ball, which Bishamon caught mid-air.

She felt awkward talking about Kazuma to Nana. She was always uncomfortable expressing her feelings, and she regretted treating Nana like she was disposable. "I don't mind," Nana said. They walked along the pier sharing an ice cream Bishamon had bought with a handful of loose change. "As long as I was outta that box, it didn't make a difference to me."

Bishamon glanced toward her. Like Kazuma, Nana's emotions were kept firmly in check. But Bishamon could feel it, the slight pang in her chest whenever they passed by humans around Nana's age, the sense of longing as they watched children laughing by the riverbank.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you," Bishamon said. "If I could do it again, I would have bestowed upon you our clan name. I think you would have done well as 'Nanaha.'"

Nana shrugged and licked her ice cream.

One day, Iki Hiyori showed up to her shrine. "Ano," Hiyori said, and she showed them a paper bag. "I have some old clothes that might fit Nana-chan. I thought maybe she would like it?"

Bishamon was touched. She took the bag from Hiyori reverently. "Thank you, Iki Hiyori," Bishamon said, and Hiyori haded her the bag and an offering of bento boxes she had purchased from the grocery store.

"Who's that?" Nana asked, after Hiyori left.

"That is the Yatogami's follower, Iki Hiyori," Bishamon said. "She is well acquainted with the Yatogami's shinki as well as the lady Kofuku."

Nana picked through the clothes, setting aside the girly pink shirts and skirts and pulling out the more utilitarian jackets and sweaters. "I heard she teaches the Yatogami's shinki." Her hands traced the folds of the clothes before setting them on her lap. "Why does she do that?"

"The boy Yukine wanted to keep up with his studies. He studied shinki techniques under my Kazuma as well."

"Oh." Nana folded the clothes.

"Nana," Bishamon said. "Would you like Iki Hiyori to teach you?"

"Huh?" Nana looked up. Bishamon spread her hands.

"Unlike the other gods, I don't have much knowledge of the human world, and I believe Iki Hiyori would be the best to guide you."

"I don't really care about all that," Nana said. She set the clothes in the bag, making sure to set the frilly stuff on the bottom first.

"I think it might be good for you to spend time with other humans and shinki." Bishamon watched as Nana pried open the bento box and began eating with relish. "You wish to see more of this world, do you not?"

"Huh?" Nana looked up. A grain of rice stuck to the bottom of her lip. Bishamon smiled and wiped her face with a napkin. "Well, I guess," Nana muttered, glaring, but Bishamon could see that slight dusting of pink rising on her cheeks.

"Oh my gosh, I would love to!" Hiyori said. They were standing at the steps of Hiyori's house, Nana glaring at the ground while Bishamon ushered her forward. "You can study with me and Yukine-kun! Do you know how to read, Nana-chan?"

"Uh," Nana scratched her head. "I know how to read kanji."

"Well I'll teach you how to read Hiragana, that's modern Japanese. It's a lot easier to learn than kanji!" Hiyori beamed at her brightly. Bishamon smiled.

"Thank you again, Iki Hiyori," Bishamon said. "I know it's not much, but you will always have the war god Vaisravana's protection. I will always be here to answer your prayers."

"To have two gods on retainer, you're like some sort of high priestess or something," Nana said. Hiyori grinned and scratched her head.

"I'm just happy I can help," Hiyori said, as Nana stepped forward.


	7. Earlier, part 3: Shrine

.

.

Yukine worked on his homework while Nana hunched over the children's book, sounding out the words and reading out loud.

"The...dog...ran...fast."

"Good!" Hiyori said. Nana squinted at the page.

"The dog...chased...the cat."

"Wow, really good!" Hiyori said. Nana frowned.

"These books are stupid," Nana said. "Don't you have anything else better to read besides cows and dogs and things?"

"Um," Hiyori said. "I have a few books for older readers. But they might be kind of difficult."

Yukine kept looking at his homework: "You should show her those comics of naked wrestling men," Yukine said.

"HUH?!"

"What? I bet she'd like them," Yukine said. Nana clasped her hands and nodded, vigorously.

After they spent the last hour going through Hiyori's embarrassing stack of wrestling doujins ("He...gripped...his...ass...and..."), she took Yukine and Nana to the mall. Nana craned her head upwards, awestruck at the tall glass skylight and the throngs of people shopping around them.

"What's that?!" Nana said. She pointed to the escalator as people rode up with their shopping bags and stepped onto the second floor. "What's _that_?!" Nana said, as they walked past a water fountain. Hiyori treated them to ice cream and red bean cake and ushered Nana around so they could try on new clothes.

"That actually didn't suck," Nana said. She and Yukine were lying in the attic, staring up at the ceiling. Hiyori had to go home for dinner, but she gave Nana a stack of writing homework and told her it had to be done by the end of the week.

"Yeah," Yukine said. "I used to think Hiyori was kinda lame, but she's actually pretty OK."

"What's 'lame'?" Nana said.

"Uh, you know, dumb. Weird. You know."

"Oh," Nana said. "Is that what you think about your master?"

"Well yeah. That shitty jersey's the epitome of lame," Yukine said.

"So if you think your master is 'lame,' how did you become a hafuri?" Nana said.

"I don't know," Yukine said. "One moment, I was one blade, and then I got broken in half, but instead of dying I turned into two."

"That's how I became a hafuri too," Nana said. "When my Aya-sama wielded me, I was a scythe. But then in battle I got slashed in two."

"What did you turn into?" Yukine said, sitting up.

"A sword and sickle. Pretty cool, right?"

"Yeah," Yukine said, and he laid back down.

As it turned out, he and Nana had a lot in common: "Your master's got sweaty hands?!" Nana said. "My Aya-sama had sweaty hands, too!"

"Which god was your Aya-sama?" Yukine said. Nana looked up at the ceiling.

"He was Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, the god of the moon."

"No way," Yukine said.

"Way," Nana said. Above them, the ceiling fan turned slowly. "I don't know what happened to him," Nana said. "For all I know he got reincarnated. I asked Vaisravana and she didn't know either."

"Vais...ra...vana?"

"Bishamonten's real name."

"Oh."

She had dinner with Yukine and his master, and while Kofuku and Daikoku cleared up the dishes Bishamon knocked on the rice paper door.

"Bisha!" Kofuku ran toward her. "WOW! Is that your new server outfit, Bisha?"

"It's just for this part-time job," Bishamon said. She blushed awkwardly. "Wishes for Vaisravana are few and far-between, and for Nana's sake, I need to otherwise make ends meet."

"Ha ha, chijou! Welcome to stray-hood! Wait a few weeks and you'll be scrubbin' toilets too!"

"Ugh," Bishamon said. She motioned for Nana to come forward.

"The Yatogami doesn't know what he's talking about. We're not strays. We at least have a shrine to come home to." Bishamon looked around and saw the beginnings of a storm swirling across the horizon. "Come on, Nana. The sun is starting to set. We need to get home, soon."

She tried to enter the temple grounds.

A flash. Bishamon yelped and jerked her hand back. Her eyes widened.

"A barrier," someone said, and Bishamon looked up to see the shinki of the heaven's guard stepping forward. "This is the shrine dedicated to the god Bishamonten. But you no longer carry that name."

"What the hell is this? A god can enter any shrine, it need not be his!" Bishamon said. The shinki smiled thinly.

"Then I suggest you ask your brethren on the Near Shore for their mercy," the shinki said.

" _Shikki_ ," Bishamon said, and Nana zapped into her hand.

"Are you fighting for your name, War God Vaisravana?" The shinki pulled back, throwing lines which Bishamon slashed through effortlessly. "This shrine is no longer yours. It's no longer yours to claim."

"I am a God of Calamity! The rules of heaven no longer apply to me! _Rend_!" Bishamon said, and Shikki's sword shattered through the barrier.

The shinki frowned.

"Go back to India, Vaisravana," the shinki said. Their voices wavered as they faded back into heaven. "There is no place for a foreign, nameless god."

"Revert, _Nana_ ," Bishamon said, and they stood at the steps of Bishamonten's shrine, watching as the heaven's guard retreated back to Takamagahara.


	8. Present

.

.

The monks were wafting incense.

Kazuma stuck his head out from around the corner and watched, frowning a little as the temple's guardians began the exorcism ceremony. " _Om namo Bhagavatayai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai. Om namo Bhagavatayai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai._ " They rang a bell and wafted incense toward Kazuma's little spot, then propped up a straw doll to pour wine in effigy.

Kazuma raised his eyebrows. Did they really expect him to possess that doll? And second of all, Kazuma was not an evil spirit. By the very nature of the temple, evil spirits couldn't come here.

While the monks were chanting, Yato walked up to the stone steps and frowned, pausing to watch as the elder monk wrote on a ritual scroll and bowed, ringing the bell. Yato snickered. He hopped past the monks and bounded up across the stone steps, ducking under the archway and landing next to Kazuma.

"What the heck, Kazuma, they're trying to exorcise you now?"

Kazuma sighed loudly. "They've been trying to for the last three days. It's aggravating enough that I might decide to leave."

The monks rang their little bell.

" _Om, Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Samgate Bodhi Svaha.  
Om, Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Samgate Bodhi Svaha._"

"' _Gone, gone, gone farther, gone even farther Perfect Knowledge_ ," Yato repeated. "Holy crap, Kazuma, they're bringin' out the big guns now!"

Yato squatted beside him, leaning his back against the stone wall. Neither one of them acknowledged the reason why Yato was here: the night before, Kazuma had made the dangerous journey to Kofuku's house, walking along the crowds of people and traversing the high-speed railway lines. As a spirit, Kazuma couldn't draw borderlines, and while newly-dead ghosts could still manipulate the doors and handles so ubiquitous around the Near Shore, Kazuma, having spent the centuries bathed in Veena's life force, found that he could not. "You can do it again. It's like atrophied muscles, ya just gotta re-learn how to walk," Yato said.

"It isn't that simple," Kazuma said.

After he managed to make his way toward the district where Kofuku lived, Kazuma found that the area was flooded with phantoms. That made sense - Kofuku was the goddess of poverty, by her very nature she would attract storms of ayakashi. Fortunately, Kazuma could still use spells - even shinto priests of the Near Shore could use spells, if they were trained for it - and with a few hasty songs he managed to keep the ayakashi at bay. Unfortunately, neither Kofuku nor Daikoku were home, and Yukine refused to talk to him. ("Yato's not here. I'm going upstairs.")

"I told him I was sorry," Kazuma said. "But I know it isn't enough."

"Give him time," Yato said. "He's still a teenager, he'll eventually come around."

They sat for a while not saying anything. Occasionally, Yato tiptoed around the monks and freaked them out by kicking around the straw doll or ringing the sacred bell, and as the monks scurried and shrieked about the evil spirit possessing the temple, Yato laughed his ass off and sauntered back over to Kazuma.

"You know what you should do?" Yato said. "You should totally walk up to them, just to mess with them. Say 'hello' and ask where you can get a good pair of glasses."

"I can't wear glasses, Yato, not in the state that I'm currently in."

"Want me to name you?" Yato said. Kazuma shrugged.

"I don't think Yukine would very much appreciate it," Kazuma said.

"Suit yourself," Yato said, and he hopped toward the border.

"Oh, by the way, Kazuma. I heard that skank is going to India."

"What?" Kazuma said. Yato turned.

"I guess subcontracting work and doin' odd jobs isn't suiting her. She has a stronger following over there. Said she could probably get through the backdoor to their side of heaven."

"When did you talk to her? Is she leaving soon?" Kazuma said.

"Uh, it was a few weeks ago. Apparently she _was_ staying here, way back before you moved in. I guess the heaven's guard tried bullying her. Pissed her off pretty good. She used that hafuri on them and everything."

"Where is she staying now?" Kazuma said.

"No idea. That crazy chick isn't even sleeping in shrines anymore. She just keeps that hafuri activated and kills off any phantoms that tries to attack her."

"She's staying on the streets?" Kazuma stared at Yato, horrified. "Yato you have to help me. Where can I find her?"

"No idea. But that hafuri of hers sometimes hangs out with Yukine at Kofuku's house."

Yato waited. Kazuma frowned, furrowing his brow.

"Yato," Kazuma began.

"Yeah?"

"Has Veena...has she asked about me?" Kazuma steeled himself even though he pretty much knew the answer.

Yato took a breath. "Yo Kazuma, you know, she's got a lot on her plate, and-"

"She hasn't mentioned me, has she?"

Yato didn't say anything. Kazuma hunched over.

"I hope she does well in India," Kazuma said. He picked at a thread from his kimono.

" _Om, Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Samgate Bodhi Svaha.  
Om, Gate, Gate, Paragate, Para Samgate Bodhi Svaha._"

"You know what I regret, Yato?" Kazuma said. "I regret that I can't pass over."

Yato didn't say anything. Spirits that become shinki are those who can't enter the cycle of life and death in the first place - they were haunted spirits, still tied to the Near Shore and trapped wandering the earth. Wishing to reincarnate was nothing more than a ludicrous dream. "I mean, you still can," Yato said, helpfully. "Spirits enter the cycle of life and death all the time. Ya just gotta find and follow the holy river."

"Can you imagine, me being reincarnated?" Kazuma laughed softly to himself. "It's been so long I doubt it's possible."

" _Om namo Bhagavatayai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai.  
Om namo Bhagavatayai Arya-Prajnaparamitayai._"

"Too bad this stupid chant can't help you with that," Yato said.


	9. Exorcism!

.

.

They were bringing in another exorcist. Kazuma sighed loudly and peered around the wall, watching as the monks bowed and brought in their so-called "expert."

Even without his glasses, Kazuma could tell this man was just a con - skinny jeans and hipster glasses, the man looked more like one of those sketchy guys chasing university students, leering and hanging out at the bar.

"Now we begin the cleansing ceremony," the guy said, and Kazuma rolled his eyes as he tossed a handful of potpourri into the air.

Whatever. At this point, at least it served as a distraction from Kazuma's sizeable and significant depression. Not that he had to worry about stinging any gods, but he was sick of replaying the loop of shoulda-woulda-coulda's and generally moping around the temple.

"Evil spirit! Evil spirit! I call out to you! BEGONE!" the guy said, and he clapped his hands.

Kazuma snorted. Is this guy for real?

The guy stuck his head around the corner.

"I HAVE LOCATED THE IMPURITY," the guy said, loudly and only a few inches away from Kazuma's face.

Kazuma blinked and gave him a bemused look. The guy lowered his voice.

"Oh hey, are you the spirit?" the guy said to him, speaking normally.

Kazuma blinked again, this time surprised. "What?" Kazuma said. The guy motioned for him to be quiet.

"Hold on a minute, I kinda gotta put on a show-"

And Kazuma watched with increasing bewilderment as the guy straightened to his full height and bellowed.

"I MUST NOW CLEANSE THIS EVIL SPIRIT! FOR YOUR SAFETY, PLEASE LEAVE THE TEMPLE WHILE I DEAL WITH HIM ALONE."

Huh. Well that was something unexpected. The only other human who could see him clearly was Iki Hiyori. The exorcist turned and offered him a smile.

"Uh, hey. So just by the looks of you, you don't look so evil."

"Thank you?" Kazuma said. The guy smiled.

"Hey, I'm Sera-" he stuck out his hand. "Artist and Supernatural Expert Extraordinaire. Um. They asked me to try to get you to leave, so..."

"I'm not leaving," Kazuma said. Sera sighed, heavily.

"Then you leave me no choice," he said, and he started rooting around his pocket. Kazuma cocked an eyebrow as he whipped out his cellphone.

"BEHOLD. THE WONDERS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE, I'LL ACTIVATE THIS DEVICE AND TRAP YOUR SOUL."

"That's a cellphone," Kazuma said.

"I-wait, what?"

"That's a cellphone, you can't trap souls with a cellphone," Kazuma said.

"Huh." Sera stuck his phone back in his pocket. "From the way you were dressed, I could've sworn you were from the Edo period."

"Nara, actually. I died around 730."

"Whoa." Sera grinned sheepishly. "Usually guys like you don't know anything about technology. Sorry, man. I'm just trying to do a job."

"May I see that?" Kazuma said, and before Sera could answer he plucked the phone from his pocket, somewhat surprised at himself that he could somehow hold it. "How do you know Iki Hiyori?"

"Hiyori- wait you know my little sister?"

"Iki-san is your little sister?"

"Oh crap!" Sera said. "Little sis sure gets around!"

Kazuma watched as Sera sat cross-legged in front of him, scrolling through his pictures.

"My real name's Iki Masaomi," Sera said, showing him the pictures. "I'm actually a physician at my father's hospital. But I do stuff like this on the side."

"You con people by doing fake exorcisms?" Kazuma said.

"I talk to guys like you to see why you can't move on. Plus, you know, I also do a little bit of artwork, here and there."

Kazuma sighed. "Well it was very nice to meet you, Iki Masaomi. But for now I'd like to ask you to leave."

"Wait, what's a guy like you from the Nara period doing haunting a lucky god's shrine?" Masaomi said. "I mean, usually the guys I see were like, hit by trucks or something, usually old guys like you are trying to leave."

"It's a long story, which I'd rather not go into."

"Huh," Masaomi said. He rubbed his head.

"So, um, I'm just gonna tell those monks you left," Masoami said. "Maybe you could do me a solid and stop scaring people?"

"I'll try my best," Kazuma said, dryly. Masaomi grinned.

"That's all I could hope for!" Masaomi said. "Oh hey, if they do run into you again, I'll just have them call me. Yeah, I'll tell them they might need a second exorcism. You know. To further cleanse the evil from this place."

"And here I thought doctors weren't noble and selfless," Kazuma said.

"It's not like they're paying me, I do this in my spare time."

"I see."

"Okay then," Masaomi said cheerfully, and he stood. "Nice to meet you, Nara-Period-Not-Edo-Period Ghost-san. I'm gonna ask my sister about you."

"Give Iki-san my regards," Kazuma said.

"Will do."

And the guy saluted at him, before rounding the corner.


	10. A few days ago

.

.

 _The weird thing is,_ Yukine thought, as he glanced from Yato to Nana, _Yato and Nana were so friggin alike._

Maybe it was a coping mechanism. Nana had spent the last ten centuries sealed up in a pitch black box and Yato spent the same amount of time writhing beneath his father's thumb, but in any case the two of them were eerily similar. "The heck are you doing?!" Yato said. He was staring at his deck of cards, waving them in his hand. "There's no way you got that flush, how'd you get that hand?!"

"HAH?" Nana said, in almost the exact same inflection and intonation Yato used, a genderbent version of a shitty jersey as Yukine ever saw one. "Not my fault that you suck, old man!"

"OI! Who do you think you're talkin' to?! Dontcha know how long I've been a god?!"

"Oi! Who do YOU think YOU'RE talkin' to?! Dontcha know how much _longer_ I've been with the gods?!"

"Wow," Daikoku said. Yato and Nana were growling at each other like perfect reflections in the mirror. Yukine nodded.

"Hmph," Nana said, and she flounced next to Yukine, tucking her winnings into her pocket while Yato sniffled and stared at his empty five-yen bottle. "My Aya-sama could out-bet you any time, if he were still alive."

"Tch! That no-good moon-god loser, didn't ya know that guy doesn't exist?!"

"Better than a shitty-ass jersey-wearing magatsukami who mooches off his shinki and the god of poverty." ("Where did she learn to curse like that?" Hiyori said. Yukine shook his head.)

"Wow," Daikoku said again. But Yato and Nana grinned at each other, sharing an easy rapport.

"I like him," Nana said, when she and Yukine were alone. Yukine glanced up from his workbook while Nana grinned, flipping through Hiyori's homework. "He kinda reminds me of my Aya-sama, ya know?"

"I thought Tsukuyomi was a respectable god, though?" Yukine said. Nana shrugged.

"Aya-sama was funny," Nana said. "But he could be super serious, too."

Outside, the light faded, the sky turning into a deep shade of dark violet. Yukine watched as the last tendrils of sun feathered out and dissipated beyond the horizon, closing his notebook in his hand.

"Bishamon-sama is late," Yukine said. "Shouldn't she be picking you up by now?"

"My master's probably working overtime. She's trying to earn enough money for plane fare."

"Plane fare?" Yukine said. "You guys taking a vacation or something?"

"We're going to India, where my master has more followers." Nana thumbed through her book, absently.

"Seriously?" Yukine said.

"Yeah," Nana said.

"When did you guys decide on this?" Yukine said.

"I dunno. A while ago," Nana said. There was a knocking at the door.

"I'll get it," Yukine said, and he bounded down the attic stairs.

Kofuku and Daikoku were out for a walk, and Yato had gone to who-knows-where, so Yukine was the only one left minding the house. "Hold on, I'm coming," Yukine said, and he rushed past the livingroom and slid open the rice paper door.

"Yukine," Kazuma said. Yukine stopped.

The last time Yukine had seen him, he was on his hands and knees, weeping after the ablution. But now Kazuma-san looked different. It wasn't that he wasn't dressed normally - Yato had pretty much warned him that Kazuma couldn't wear Near Shore clothes, he was stumbling around without glasses and a tattered green kimono - but that he looked physically different. His face was gaunt and his body was thinner, and his weird green eyes were sunken and rimmed with dark circles. He looked like some ghost from one of those freaky horror films Yato liked to watch, and Yukine bristled, uncomfortably.

"Yato isn't here," Yukine said. "I'll tell him you stopped by."

"Wait," Kazuma said, and he tried to catch the door.

Tried - except his had slipped through the rice paper panel.

Kazuma blinked. Yukine blinked. His hand, translucent and the color of a runny egg, seemed to bleed right through the paper.

"Um," Kazuma said. "Sorry," and he pulled his hand back out. Yukine crossed his arms defensively.

"I wanted to talk to you, Yukine. I never got a chance to apologize about what happened."

"It's fine," Yukine said, curtly. "Don't worry about it," and he started to shut the door again. Kazuma stepped inside.

"O-oi!"

"Please," Kazuma said. "I came all this way to talk to you. At least let me explain-"

"You don't have to explain anything, we heard it all at the ablution." Yukine couldn't look at him. "I gotta go upstairs. Someone needs to wait for Yato."

"Yukine," Kazuma said, and Yukine turned.

"You were always stronger than me," Kazuma said. His weird green eyes flicked upward, meeting his. "Yato should count himself among the lucky. I'm glad that you're the one who serves him." Yukine licked his lips. His mouth was suddenly dry.

"Thanks," Yukine said. "I really gotta go."

"Yukine-"

But before he could say anything Yukine quickly closed the door.


	11. Job

.

.

In the afternoon, Yato walked around in Akihabara.

Apparently, there was a new maid cafe that had opened recently, and all the nerds on all the internet were heaping praise on the hot blonde with marshmallow tits, and Yato was ninety-nine percent sure it was Bishamon.

While Yato enjoyed the idea of busting into the maid cafe and making that psycho chick serve him, he was mostly there to tell her about Kazuma - it pissed him off that she wasn't even looking for him. From what Yukine said, they were planning on leaving for India soon, and even though in the end Kazuma mostly screwed things over, she owed it to him to give him a proper goodbye.

The streets were crowded with tourists. Yato craned his neck past the throng of people until he saw her: a blonde in a maid outfit, walking in front of him and holding a packet of fliers in her arm.

Yato's pace quickened. She still walked fast even though she was in stilettos, and her long, long hair bounced loosely along her back.

"Bishamon!" Yato said. He walked up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. "Oi, Bishamon-"

The woman whirled around. It wasn't Bishamon.

For the hell of it, Yato decided to stop by the maid cafe anyway. He was hungry and it was nice pretending he was at the top of all eight million gods. "Right this way," one of the maid waitresses said, and as they walked toward his table Yato saw Bishamon eating in a booth.

xXx

.

"I happen to like maid cafes. Did you know, Yatogami, that if you ask them to, the 'maids' will draw a smiley face on top of your omelet rice? Some of them are quite artistic, to be frank. I'm always pleasantly surprised at the amount of talent it takes to work here."

"Uh," Yato said. He was sitting face-to-face with Bishamon, who was not dressed as a maid, or a janitor, or a fast-food worker. She was wearing a black business suit with a crisp white collar, and her briefcase was sitting neatly beside her.

"Do you have something to tell me, Yatogami? Because in fifteen minutes my lunchbreak will be over."

"Wait, how the hell are you sitting in Akihabara if you're working in an office?!"

"I'm a god." Bishamon looked at him as if he were the biggest idiot she's ever encountered.

As it turned out, Bishamon was making a killing working in the financial district. "How the hell do you work in the financial district? I could barely get any jobs as a delivery god!"

"It is true, Nana and I did struggle at the beginning," Bishamon said. "But then I remembered that Kazuma had developed a contingency plan in the unlikely event that I'd lose my name."

Bishamon opened her briefcase, pulling out her documents. "Over time he procured all the necessary legal documents and forged degrees from various universities, and every fifty years or so he'd go request a correction for my birthdate. It wouldn't be prudent to present ID saying I was eighty-five when I still look to be in my late twenties, after all. At the time I thought he was being overly cautious, but looking back on it now, he was probably looking at the struggles you faced, and was trying to cushion me somewhat should I face the same problems."

Yato looked at her passport. "Miyagi Veena?" Yato said.

"Oh. He was amused by that one American movie. What was it called? The Martial Arts Child?"

"The Karate Kid." He held up her resume. "A degree from Tokyo University in East Asian languages?"

"Well I am fluent in Hindi and Punjabi. And my Tamil is not that bad, if I do say so myself. My origins do lie in India, after all." She sipped her drink matter-of-factly.

"What the hell, Bishamon, you don't know anything about finance, how the hell are you working with the stock market?!"

"Oh, I basically tell my clients to pick the stocks that currently interest Ebisu." Bishamon smiled, putting the papers back in her briefcase. "For instance, right now Capyper Incorporated is reporting massive gains. My clients are naturally ecstatic, and the commissions I've been making are more than enough to compensate."

Yato sputtered. "But I heard you're not stayin' in any shrines anymore, I heard you were living on the streets!"

"What?" Bishamon said. She wrinkled her brow. "Nana and I share an apartment."

"HAH?!"

"Well it is true, it's not hallowed ground." Bishamon swirled her cup, thoughtfully. "But Nana protects our sleeping quarters with a few well-placed borders, and in the unlikely event our apartment is attacked, the denizens of the building are granted divine protection by the Nameless God Vaisravana. It hasn't been that terrible."

"And the thing about you going to India? Is that just a miscommunication too?"

"India?" Bishamon smiled. "Yatogami. You truly do have your ear to the ground. Yes, Nana and I are going to India. My company is transferring me there for six months starting in the fall."

"Well isn't that just great," Yato said. "Kazuma's been waiting for you at your shrine, and you're running around playing Ebisu on the stock market."

"Kazuma?" Bishamon lowered her hand. "You found Kazuma?"

"Yeah. That guy's been moping around your shrine, getting all sick and ghostly and scarin' away all your worshipers."

Bishamon looked troubled. She tucked her briefcase on her lap and stood.

"Oi, Bishamon-"

"Take me there, Yatogami." Bishamon's face was pinched. "I'll call out sick to my superiors."

"O-oi-"

She tossed a ten thousand yen note on the table.

"OI! CHIJOU! YOU'RE NOT GONNA WAIT FOR CHANGE?!"

"Yatogami, you don't understand. I've been searching all this time for my Kazuma. I need to make sure that he's okay."

"O-okay, wait a sec," and Yato fished out change and pocketed the banknote.

They rushed up the steps to the temple. Bishamon walked with purpose, her hair swinging like a tail while she walked. Yato scurried behind her and showed her Kazuma's spot. "They've been trying to exorcise him for the last few days, but it hasn't affected him. I'm pretty sure he'll still be here-"

They rounded the corner.

Kazuma was already gone.


	12. Apartment

.

.

The apartment Bishamon had rented was small but serviceable, with a small room for sleeping and a small kitchenette area. The area was quiet and they were within walking distance of a shrine and the train station. In the mornings, they would eat quickly and walk toward the train station, and if there were no ayakashi about they would separate, Nana heading to Yukine's and Bishamon heading to work.

She and Nana didn't eat home-cooked meals at a proper table; instead, Bishamon would bring home single-sized portions of convenience-store lunchboxes. Sometimes she would bring home a few rice balls and a cardboard carton of boiled stew; othertimes she would bring back a flat box of potato curry that they would share with wooden chopsticks, protected by paper sleeves. They slept on roll-out futons that Nana aired out over their balcony during the day, and at night, Bishamon would keep watch for ayakashi while Nana slept, curled up beneath the blankets and clutching a crumpled page of homework given to her by Iki Hiyori.

It was, all in all, a nice life. Nothing at all like the horrors Yato liked to spin, of rooting around through garbage and donation boxes, losing shinki after shinki and trying desperately to build up followers. Even though she no longer could claim the name "Bishamonten," Vaisravana still had believers. If Bishamon closed her eyes, she could hear prayers from as far away as India, soft and reverent and murmured in her ear.

She walked back from the temple. After Yato swore up and down that the exorcism didn't affect him, Bishamon went into the convenience store near her apartment and numbly picked up a carton. She didn't even look at what she was buying. Dumbly, she stuck the food into her basket and walked toward the register.

"Whoa, what's this?" Nana said, untying the plastic bag. Bishamon had come home once again with dinner in a plastic sack. She watched as Nana pulled out a carton and popped open the lid. "Whoa! Chicken curry!"

"Forgive me," Bishamon said. She set down her briefcase and shrugged off her coat. "A growing girl like you deserves home-cooked meals. I regret that I never learned how to cook."

Nana looked up, having picked up a piece of chicken with her fingers and was shoveling it in her mouth. "S'okay." She began shoveling the food into her mouth with her hand. "It tastes good."

Bishamon watched her, feeling a little sad.

The contingency plan Kazuma developed was supposed to be for the two of them. "We can rent an apartment in the city, and if we have to, I can get a monk to get it blessed," Kazuma had said.

"Would it work?" Bishamon had asked. Kazuma nodded.

"Well enough to keep away most ayakashi. Of course, the stronger ones would still be able to penetrate, but they'd be easy to neutralize with a well-placed borderline."

Bishamon could imagine how it'd be. Kazuma would get a job doing anything he wanted - he was fluent in almost every human language and he had an expert's knowledge in multiple professions. They would share this tiny space, Kazuma cooking and setting the pot directly in front of them, and as they would eat, they would trade stories about their day spent mingling among the humans. The family name on his documents was also Miyagi; when Bishamon asked why, he told her simply, "Because the two of us are family," and Bishamon laughed and told him that made sense, he was hers, after all, and she was his only _kami-san_.

"Oi," Nana said. Bishamon glanced up. "How come you're crying?"

"Huh?" Bishamon blinked, then brushed her hand over her eye, absently. "Forgive me, Nana. I'm just a little tired."

"Need any holy water or recharging at the shrine?"

"No," Bishamon said. "It's fine." She pushed up on her haunches and walked toward the bathroom.

"I'm drawing a bath," Bishamon said. She unscrewed the tap and let the hot water flow into the tub. "Do you want to soak in the tub first?"

"'Kay," Nana called, and Bishamon watched as Nana gathered up the trash into the plastic bag and stuck it in the wastebasket.

The girl had left her one rice ball and a portion of the curry and rice on a paper plate. Bishamon smiled, picking up the ball.

"Nana," Bishamon said, when Nana came out of the bathroom. "What do you think about us living with Lady Kofuku?"

Nana lowered her towel. "You mean, like, to stay?" she asked carefully. Bishamon nodded, smiling.

"It would only be until we head out to India. But our lease is ending soon and I was debating whether to renew it."

"Did you talk to Lady Kofuku?" Nana asked.

"I did," Bishamon said. "Her offer still stands. She's very excited to have us."

Nana's eye widened and her face brightened. But then she got a hold of herself, putting up a cool and disaffected look.

"Whatever you want," Nana said. And she tossed the towel into the hamper.


	13. Marriage

.

.

"Kazuma," Bishamon said. They were sitting in her office, going through a stack of papers. "What is this?"

"Oh," Kazuma said. He glanced down at her desk. "That is an application for a marriage certificate."

"Marriage?" Bishamon said, surprised. "For both of us?" She thumbed through her papers, puzzled. "Why on earth would we need this?"

Kazuma didn't look at her. "Well, my thinking was, if worse comes to worst, we'd have to live together. And a man and a woman sharing a domicile generally are married or in an otherwise romantic relationship. Besides the fact that in the documents I've obtained, we share the same surname."

"But why couldn't we be relatives? Why couldn't you be my son or I your mother?"

Kazuma smiled. "Veena. We look too similar in age. I realize you are a few centuries older than me, but from a human's perspective, you do not look like someone who could be my mother."

"Huh." Bishamon leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms. "And this is why my birth certificate lists me as being 'Bai Veena,' but my driver's license says 'Miyagi'?"

"That's right." Kazuma kept his head down, shuffling through his papers. "Oddly enough, the Near Shore government granted your name change before processing the marriage certificate. But I suppose changing one's name is no longer as restricted."

"Couldn't we have been brother and sister, though? Or simply roommates?" Bishamon said.

"Er, there are certain legal rights that come with being married," Kazuma said. "If something were to happen to you, it would ensure that I could make decisions regarding your well-being."

"I'm a god, Kazuma, what could possibly happen to me?"

"Er, well I was referring more to your finances. Your assets in the Near Shore and the like."

"Huh," Bishamon said again. "Well I suppose you do know what you're doing. Very well then. If I ever lose my godly name, we'll just have to pretend to be married."

"It wouldn't be pretend, though, not in a legal sense." Kazuma's ears were red. Bishamon cocked an eyebrow.

"Kazuma," Bishamon said. "Does this embarrass you?"

"Uh, no- well, yes. I mean, I don't want to make assumptions about our relationship. If it makes you uncomfortable we don't have to go through with this. It was strictly for Near Shore legalities, I assure you."

"You like the idea of us being married, don't you?" Bishamon said. Her mouth quirked. "I suppose having that certificate would mean I'd be your _kami-san_ , wouldn't it? I doubt even the Binbougami and her shinki have taken that little joke as far."

"Er, the idea is rather amusing." He glanced up at her for the first time since they started this conversation.

"Well," Bishamon said, rising. "Whatever you think is best, Kazuma. I don't think I'll be losing my name anytime soon, but if it makes you feel better I'll apply for all these documents. You'll have to help me though. Near Shore bureaucracy was never my strong suit."

"I'll fill them out and just have you place your signature," Kazuma said, and he picked up the stacks of paper and slid them neatly into his folder.


	14. Flashback: Rules

.

.

This is how Nana escaped from heaven.

"Allow me to purchase her," Ebisu said.

"Young Master!" Kunimi said. He grabbed the boy by the arm. "That girl is the renegade hafuri. You would be committing high treason by allowing her to stay outside!"

"High treason was already committed when she was released. She's already served more than enough time in that box. Can we not offer her probation?" Ebisu said. The high cleric's mouth turned upward at the corner.

"Young Ebisu, this happened before your time. But that girl tried to lay waste to Her Majesty."

("It's okay," Nana said to Bishamon, who stood beside her and held her hand protectively. "Before they seal me, I'll just kill myself. Thank you for releasing me.")

In the courtroom, Ebisu stepped forward.

"How much is in Heaven's coffers?" Ebisu said.

"Young Master!"

"How about if I double it?" Ebisu said.

The crowd murmured. Ebisu stuck his chin out defiantly.

"Guide Kunimi, re-direct your god!" the high cleric said. "He is obviously traveling down a forbidden path!"

"Kunimi," Ebisu said, looking up toward him. "I thought money would be enough?"

"It is," someone said. The crowd turned. Kofuku stood, a vision in fishnet stockings and bunny ears, while the crowd parted around her carefully. "You're just not using it right."

"Binbougami," the high cleric said. Kofuku smiled.

"You won't let Ebibi-chan line your coffers? That girl's already served more than enough time. It seems like a pretty good deal to me," Kofuku said, smiling. "I could just as easily deplete all the savings in Heaven's accounts. It wouldn't be an act of treason, it would just be me following my nature!" She batted her eyes innocently.

"How dare you," the high cleric said. "You would openly defy the will of heaven?"

"You forget," Kofuku said, smiling. "I am not officially part of heaven."

The crowd stirred. Behind her, Daikoku swallowed.

"I grant no wishes and I have no stake to claim. I am not beholden to heaven's rules." She walked forward, Daikoku trailing behind her. "It would be a shame if I called my Kokki and used him," Kofuku mused.

"Callous reprobate!" the high cleric said, shaking. "You would openly threaten Her Majesty and defy the will of Heaven?"

"Did you know, high cleric, that other than the sorcerer, there are only three gods who rightfully control ayakashi?" Kofuku said. "There is Lord Tsukuyomi, whom no one has heard from in a thousand years. There is Lady Izanami, who lives alone in the Underworld. And then there is me."

The crowd fell silent. Kofuku took a step forward.

"But do you know the difference between Lady Izanami and myself?"

Kofuku's smile stretched, bright and wide and mean.

"Lady Izanami is trapped exclusively in the underworld. I, on the other hand, am not."

"GUARDS," the high cleric said. Kofuku laughed softly.

" _Kokki_ ," Kofuku said, and Daikoku opened his mouth to protest before he flashed into a beam of light, landing into her hand.

"Kofuku-dono, I must protest! You cannot wield your Kokki in here!" Tenjin said.

"Bisha sure did a number on heaven, didn't she?" Kofuku held out her fan, musingly. "But if I opened a vent in heaven, I wonder how much damage there would be?"

"Lady Kofuku, I beg of you!" Kunimi said, sweating. "This isn't right! You know not what you do!"

"I know exactly what I do," Kofuku said, smiling. "Let Ebi-chan pay for that hafuri, or else Kokki and I may decide to play." She flipped open her fan, showing them.

"I wonder how quickly your guards can get to me, when all I have to do is flick my fan?"

The high cleric frowned, a bead of sweat forming at her brow.

xXx

.

"NANA-CHAN!" Kofuku said. She threw her arms around Nana and dragged Bishamon in from the courtyard. "I'm so glad you and Bisha are moving in here, Nana-chan!"

"I'm still hesitant about this arrangement," Bishamon said. Kofuku waved her hand.

"Nah, nah, you're worrying too much, Bisha! Me and Kokki's got this under control!"

"I would hate for something to happen to you because I defied the will of heaven," Bishamon said. Kofuku twirled.

"Didn't you know, Bisha? I don't have to follow Heaven's rules!"


	15. Cake

.

.

The things Nana read were more and more varied. One day, she would be skimming through a fashion magazine, flipping through the pages and pondering at how clothing has changed. (Back in her day, clothes were coarsely woven and layered with different animal pelts.) Another day, she would be darting through the Yato God's room and peeking at the TOOYA doujins of her master he had stashed in the corner ("Why does your master draw naked pictures of my master?" Nana asked Yukine, who muttered, "Because some people you think are good are actually shitty loser assholes.")

Her favorites, though, were Daikoku-san's cookbooks.

Nana loved looking at his cookbooks. The words were difficult to sound out, but the pictures were brightly colored and the food in the photographs looked amazing, and everytime Nana would sit cross-legged in the attic and just stare and stare at the pictures of food, fantasizing what it must be like to taste something so exquisite. A piece of the divine, as it were, like freshly steamed rice or homemade dumplings or that magical curry her master got from the convenience store.

"Oh, Nana-chan, what's that?" Hiyori said, and she peered over Nana's shoulder. Nana had been staring at the picture of a strawberry shortcake for the better part of an hour now, and her stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of it. "A recipe for cake?"

"I guess." Nana flipped the pages quickly. Hiyori smiled.

"Do you wanna try baking it?" Hiyori said.

"N-no." Nana scowled and blushed, glaring. "I was just wondering what it'd taste like."

"Well, it probably tastes really good! This recipe looks pretty easy too." Hiyori plucked the cookbook from her hand. "Hey, Yukine-kun! You wanna help us bake a cake?"

"Cake?" Yukine looked up from his math homework. "What kind of cake?"

"Strawberry shortcake with homemade whipped cream."

Yukine's face cracked into a blush. Then he scowled. Apparently he wanted to bake that cake, too. "I guess," Yukine said, sounding bored. "Not like I have anything better to do."

"Great!" Hiyori said. "Nana-chan, Yukine-kun, lets go get the ingredients! And maybe Daikoku-san would let us use his oven, too!"

xXx

.

They went to the grocery store. Nana craned her neck, awestruck by all the different boxes and colors lined up in front of her. Hiyori expertly picked up the carton of eggs and flour and sugar and stuck them in her basket while Nana gawked at the display case, Yukine trailing nonchalantly behind them.

"What's that?" Nana said. She pointed down the aisle.

"Oh, that?" Hiyori said. "That's a mop. We use it for cleaning the floor."

"What's that?" Nana said. She pointed to the display behind her.

"Hm, those are different kinds of snack foods. This one is made of long stick-shaped cookies dipped in chocolate."

"Chocolate?" Nana didn't know the word.

"I'll buy some so you can try it," Hiyori said, putting it in her basket.

They rounded the corner to where the meat and vegetables were held; Nana's eyes widened as she saw the huge displays of fruit and vegetables lined up in colorful rows. A veritable bounty, just waiting to be picked. Hiyori glanced at Nana and smiled.

"Do you want some fruit, Nana-chan?"

"Fruit?" Nana glanced back at her, blushing.

"Here," Hiyori said. "Do you like grapes? What about oranges?" Nana licked her lips.

"How about we get a little bit of everything?" Hiyori said, and she put some fruit in her basket. "We definitely need strawberries if we're baking this cake."

Hiyori went in line to pay; there were too many humans for Nana to feel comfortable, so she hung back with Yukine, waiting by the door.

"That's really nice of Hiyori to get you all that," Yukine said. "Hiyori's really nice. I used to think she was just some spoiled rich girl, but she's actually pretty cool."

Nana had never heard Yukine openly praise someone like that. She glanced back at Hiyori and silently agreed. _Yes_ , she thought. _This Hiyori person is pretty "cool."_

They went back to Kofuku's place, where they started baking the cake. Hiyori cracked the eggs and measured the flour, while Nana haltingly read the instructions out loud. They were about to pour the batter into the mold when Yato opened the door.

"Whatcha doin'?" Yato said. He sauntered gracefully behind them, peering over their shoulders.

"Oh, Yato. Nana-chan and Yukine-kun are helping me bake a cake," Hiyori said.

"Cake?" Yato said. "With this travesty of a recipe?"

"Um-"

"You don't need this!" Yato said, and he tore the page out from the cookbook with a flourish.

"Y-Yato-"

"Didja know, Hiyori, that I was once the pastry chef at a Michelin starred restaurant?" Yato said. "Here, you're measuring the proportions wrong! Let me show you what you're supposed to do!"

"THE HELL YOU WILL," Daikoku said. He stomped into the kitchen, grabbing Yato by the shoulder. "I told Hiyori-chan she could use my oven but I sure as shit won't have you messing around in my kitchen!"

"WAAAH, DAIKOKU! Dontcha wanna know what a cake tastes like baked by a proper god?!"

"Okay, okay," Hiyori said, smiling nervously. "Yato. Let's just bake it at my house. No one will see us, everyone's staying at my grandmother's right now."

Daikoku crossed his arms. "Be careful, Hiyori-chan," Daikoku said. "That idiot over there might wreck your house."

xXx

.

It was starting to get dark. Normally Nana would be nervous - the witching hour had long since past and her master was nowhere to be found, but she was in the company of another god and his hafuri, and she knew she could protect herself if she had to. In front of her, Hiyori hummed and thumbed though her keys, apparently oblivious to the strange aura around her. Something was off, but there were no phantoms around, and there were no storms.

"Okay, Nana-chan!" Hiyori said, and she unlocked the door. "Yato and Yukine-kun have been here before, so let me give you a private tour!"

"Hiyori," Yato said, and he stepped forward. "Don't go inside yet. There's something off."

"Huh?" Hiyori blinked. Yato frowned.

"There's a strange aura here. Can you feel it, Yukine?"

"Yeah." Yukine said. Nana lifted her fingers into a halberd.

" _Sekki_ ," Yato said, and Yukine zapped into his hand.

"What is it?" Hiyori said. She took a step back toward Nana. "Is there another phantom?"

"I'm not sure," Yato said. "It doesn't feel like something that'd come from a storm."

There was a rustle, the sound of something being knocked over. Something darted out, running through the hallway.

"A phantom," Nana said, and she sprang forward.

Yato started. "O-oi!"

Nana gritted her teeth and held out her arm.

" _A line_!"

Crash! The line slammed into the wall, slicing a vase in half. The thing she was chasing darted forward.

" _A line! A line! A line!_ "

"Wait!" someone said. The line missed. Yato and Hiyori ran behind her.

" _A line! A line! A LINE_!" Nana said, and the line slashed and struck him, throwing him backward.

She held her fingers in a halberd, about to make the kill, when Yato grabbed her by the arm.

"H-hey!"

"You might wanna slow your roll there, sweetheart," Yato said. Hiyori came running behind them.

"Yato!" Hiyori said, as Yato lowered his swords. "Yato what happened? What's going on?" She rushed behind them and stopped. Her hands flew to her mouth. Her eyes widened.

" _Kazuma-san?!_ "

"Er, hello, Iki-san," Kazuma said. And he pressed the sleeves of his kimono against the cut on his arm.


	16. Relocation

.

.

"Hey, Edo-san!"

Kazuma peered out. Iki Masaomi was waving at him, standing at the bottom of the temple steps. "Hey, Edo-san! You mind if I come over?"

"I thought I told you I died during the Nara period," Kazuma said, frowning. Masaomi walked up the steps, smiling.

"Yeah, but you _lived_ during the Edo period, right?"

"Huh."

"Oh! By the way, my sister showed me pictures of your Bishamon, and damn that chick is _hot_. If I were you I'd totally wanna lick the inside of her ribcage. You know what I mean?"

"What?"

And so it was that Kazuma began an unlikely relationship with the lackadaisical artist older brother of Iki Hiyori. This was certainly not by choice, but as a ghost, Kazuma had little say in the matter.

"Hey, Edo-san?"

"Yeah?" After awhile, it was easier just to have Masaomi call him that. While Kazuma remembered his human name, it was so long ago that it didn't really fit him, and at the same time, the name "Kazuma" was too painful to think about. "What is it, Iki-san?"

"You ever think about leaving the temple?"

"Well it wouldn't be wise," Kazuma said. "The witching hour is beginning and phantoms are roaming about. I have no way to protect myself."

"Really? That's too bad," Masaomi said, and so they spent the next twenty minutes not saying anything, Masaomi scrolling idly through his phone while Kazuma frowned and paced and tried to hide his growing irritation.

Every night, after Iki Masaomi finished his hospitalist shift, he would take a train to Veena's shrine, carrying with him various offerings and leaving them in the temple. The wishes he came up with were ridiculous - "May Vaisravana help my sad sack friend get laid!" - but at the very least, they probably helped sustain her, and for that Kazuma resolved to endure his company, if only to indirectly help Veena.

But if Kazuma had to admit, being a ghost was a little lonely, and even though Iki Masaomi could be irritatingly smug and cheerfully obtuse, he did provide Kazuma with some much needed company.

"Hey, Edo-san!" Masaomi called, and Kazuma poked his head out, confused. It was early morning this time, and a fine mist had settled on the courtyard.

"You're early," Kazuma said. Masaomi sauntered up the steps, smiling.

"I got the day off," Masaomi said. "A man's gotta take a break sometime, y'know?"

There were few worshipers out this early in the morning, and Masaomi took advantage, peering around the high archways and the stonework around the temple. "Hey, Edo-san. Since it's nowhere near the witching hour or nighttime and all, I was thinking maybe you could come hang out?"

"'Hang out'?" Kazuma said. Masaomi shrugged.

"I figure it's gotta be boring, being a ghost and all."

And so it was that Kazuma followed Iki-san's wannabe-artist brother down the temple steps, entering the human world for the second time since trying to apologize to Yukine. He rather hoped this wasn't a stupid idea.

xXx

.

"You know, it's probably weird, but most of my best friends are ghosts. Like, I met your friend Yato 'cuz one of my friends got herself trapped in a painting. Actually, I think he's crushing on my sister pretty hard, and like, that's probably worrisome, right? Since he looks like a teenager but he's probably a thousand years-old."

"Well he certainly can act like a teenager," Kazuma said. _Much like present company_ , he thought to himself, silently.

"But then I was thinking, you know what? Good for little sister! 'Cuz ya know, it's not everyday a mere mortal can snag a god!"

Masaomi walked with a loose, loping swagger and an easy confidence. He chatted idly with strangers and passersby and pointed out things around him that spoke to his artist's sense. "Not that I'm some great artist! Ha ha! I mostly did it 'cuz I was bored. Well, like most things. I really hate being bored."

Iki Masaomi, Kazuma realized, was a more irritating and less endearing version of Yato.

"How many ghosts have you met?" Kazuma asked, because he was curious and also because he wondered idly if they were just as irritated with him as he was.

"Oh, lots," Masaomi said. "This one guy, he got hit by a bus a few years ago, I let him possess me so he could eat his favorite pie. He was so friggin happy he was able to pass over."

"Wait, what?" Kazuma said. Masaomi turned.

"Well, sometimes my friends, they get hung up on stuff," Masaomi said. "I told ya, I'm kind of an exorcist. If I can figure out why they're hanging around, usually they can go ahead and pass over. Like my friend at the bus stop," Masaomi said. "Dude was really craving that pie. He was headin' to the bakery when he got smushed by that bus. Splat! Like his biggest regret was never eating that pie."

"That's something you can regret?" Kazuma said. Masaomi nodded gravely.

"Apparently that dude had started this fitness regimen, he totally met his goal and he was gonna buy a slice of pie to reward himself."

"I see," Kazuma said. Wonders never ceased to amaze.

"So like, I wanted to see if I could help _you_ pass on," Masaomi said, smiling. "My little sister told me all about God Vessels and stuff but right now you're basically just a ghost right? And since you don't want to work for any other gods I thought maybe I could help you with some of your hang-ups."

"Why?" Kazuma said. Masaomi smiled.

"Because I'm bored!" Masaomi said, smiling. Kazuma sighed, loudly.

They walked along the river. The sun was shining brightly, its reflection scattering along the river's surface like brightly colored coins. A warm breeze skimmed across the long green grass that grew along the hill beside the river, and children were laughing, playing.

Kazuma stopped. The scene somehow reminded him of his older days, of keeping watch over the other young shinki within his purview.

Today must be a Saturday, Kazuma realized. In the temple, the days of the week had lost all meaning for him. The sun was warm and the breeze felt good against his face, and for a moment he forgot that for all intents and purposes, he was intangible, an untethered spirit clinging to his former self.

The wind stirred, and the family at the river laughed amongst each other, filling Kazuma with that familiar ache. He thought of the first shinki Veena had named when it was just the two of them, two girls who had died at four and five years-old.

"Remembering anything, Edo-san?"

"What?" Kazuma turned, suddenly remembering that he wasn't alone, that he had a companion with him. Masaomi smiled knowingly and touched Kazuma on the shoulder.

"I know what you're thinking," Masaomi said. "Believe me, Edo-san. I know."

It was the first time a human could touch him, not since he had a physical body from Veena.

"You...know?" Kazuma looked back at the family, the mother and father and children playing around them. Masaomi clapped Kazuma on the shoulder.

"It's quite easy to tell, my friend," Masaomi said, and Kazuma looked up at him, the sudden warmth behind his eyes and the inexplicable knot that formed in his chest overwhelming him.

Stupid fantasies. He had a million stupid fantasies. There were the obvious ones, of course. Some sexual, some not. Some so shameful he couldn't even admit them to himself. Holding hands at the park. Being able to hug her whenever he wanted to. Having children that weren't shinki, but were actually their own.

"I understand," Masaomi said. "It's okay man. I've been there. I totally understand."

"You do?" Kazuma took a breath, trying to compose himself. Masaomi smiled.

"Yeah man. I get it. I really do.

She's just way too out of your league, man."

"...What."

"Bishamon!" Masaomi said, and Kazuma realized thankfully that he had been giving Iki Masaomi way too much credit. "I mean, she's a god, right? She's like a friggin' supermodel. And you're...you know. I mean, my sister showed me the pictures, you've got this whole wallflower thing going, I mean, it's not exactly the sexiest look, but-"

Kazuma sighed and shook his head, walking behind him.

"Wait, Edo-san! Where are you going?"

"I'm heading back to the temple," Kazuma said. Masaomi followed after him.

"It's okay, buddy! I mean, you might still have a chance!" Masaomi followed him.

"Lots of hot chicks have a thing for nerds!"

xXx

.

One day, the worshipers at the temple started shivering. "It's cold," one person said.

"It's in the middle of June, why's it feel so cold?"

"Uh, Edo-san?" Masaomi tapped him on the shoulder. "What are you doing, Edo-san?"

"I'm not doing anything," Kazuma said, but he lifted his eyes and saw the white plume of Masaomi's breath, the gooseflesh on his neck and the telltale chill in the air.

The humans were growing frightened. The monks whispered hurriedly.

"Dude!" Masaomi said, eyes widening. "What's going on with your legs?!"

"What?"

"Your legs! Dude look at your legs!"

Kazuma glanced down. His legs were starting to grow more translucent, the outline of his ghost's form bleeding into the temple.

Oh no. This was bound to happen. Without the protection of a borderline, untethered spirits eventually would begin to fade. If they didn't turn into ayakashi outright, they risked fading into nothing but residual emotion, all their sorrow and regret bleeding into their surroundings: the newly dead still had the benefit of their life force to maintain physical form, and shinki drew from the life force of their gods. Spirits like Kazuma, who were thousands of years old, would soon begin to draw from the life force of other humans. The chill in the air and the feeling of foreboding was proof of that.

"I need to leave," Kazuma said. He stood up abruptly.

"Wait, Edo-san, what do you mean you need to leave?"

"I mean, if I don't leave now, I may be stuck haunting this place permanently." He headed down the stairs. Masaomi grabbed his bag and followed after.

"Wait, wait, Edo-san! The sun is setting - didn't you say you can't go out until the witching hour is over?"

"I need to get someplace where there aren't any other humans." Kazuma's face was pinched. "An empty shrine, some sort of consecrated grounds-"

"Well, what about Tenjin's shrine? That place isn't too populated, right?"

"There's always worshipers at Tenjin-sama's shrine, his temple is too popular," Kazuma said.

"Well what about the graveyard? Nobody ever hangs out there."

"People visit the grave sites all the time, I can't risk hurting anyone there."

Masaomi paced, frowning. He tapped his chin with his finger.

"You just need someplace that's been blessed, right?" Masaomi said.

"Yes," Kazuma said. "I need to go somewhere that's impenetrable to ayakashi."

"Well what about our house?" Masaomi said. "After the whole hospital thing, my dad got his properties blessed by monks. It'd be okay for you to stay there, right?" Kazuma shook his head.

"Thank you, Iki-san, but I need to be in a place without people. As I am now, I could risk sucking their life force dry."

"But my family's staying at my grandma's. There's nobody there right now," Masaomi said.

Kazuma looked up. "No one?" he said.

"No one. Even my little sister's staying with us." Masaomi nodded vigorously. Kazuma furrowed his brow, then nodded.

"Okay," Kazuma said. "I'm only going there for lack of better options. I promise you I won't be long. Thank you, Iki-san."

"Yeah," Masaomi said, nodding. "No problem."

xXx

.

"Okay, so!" Masaomi said. "This is my sister's room here, and this is my parents' room. Oh! And this is the bathroom." He flung open the door. "It's all super comfy and totally private. And you can hang out in my room if you want."

"Thanks," Kazuma said. He looked around the doors.

"Oh, hey. Sometimes my dad comes back in here, like, just to get papers and stuff. So if you hear him just hide upstairs."

"I will," Kazuma said. "Thank you, Iki-san."

"No problem." Masaomi grinned. "Hey, so. If you ever wanna possess me so you can get laid-"

"Um," Kazuma said.

"-I'd totally be up for it. So if you ever get the urge, just let me know."

"...Thanks."

"Okay!" Masaomi said, waving. "I gotta go now before grandma starts to worry. I'll check up on you tomorrow, okay?"

"Thank you, Iki-san," Kazuma said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Masaomi said.

And Masaomi saluted at him before closing the door.

xXx

.

He was sitting in Masaomi's room when he heard rustling at the door.

Kazuma peered out the window. In the dark, he could barely make out the shapes of people standing at the porch. The image was blurry; he sighed, wishing he still had his glasses or at the very least his scanning ability. The keys jingled. He could hear the doorknob turn.

xXx

.

" _A line! A line! A line!_ "

Kazuma ran, careening into furniture and bounding up the stairs. The flashes of borderlines barely missed him. One borderline flew swiftly toward him; he ducked, the line slamming into a vase, another one crashing into the hallway mirror.

" _A line! A line! A LINE!_ "

"Wait!" Kazuma said, but the line slammed into him, slashing into his arm.

He cried out. Warm spurts of blood gushed beneath his hand.

"Wait!" Kazuma said. The shinki rushed forward. He couldn't make out her face, the figure was too blurred. "Wait! I beg of you, wait-"

A hand dropped on the shinki's shoulder.

"You might wanna slow your roll there, sweetheart," a familiar voice said, and despite his poor eyesight, Kazuma could see the bright blue of Yato's eyes.


	17. Phone

.

.

It was nighttime now, and Yukine lingered on the porch, watching as Hiyori and Yato and Kazuma-san talked. They were laughing and smiling and he was doing his best not to get pissed off.

"Hey, Nana," Yukine said.

"Yeah?" She was tossing pebbles in the driveway.

"What would you do if someone close to you betrayed you?"

"I'd kill 'em," Nana said.

That wasn't the answer Yukine was expecting. "I mean, what if they just used a spell on you. Like they used a spell to force you to talk?"

"Against my will? Kill 'em," Nana said. Yukine pressed forward.

"Yeah, but what if they had a good reason? Like if they needed the information to protect their master? Like, what if they acted that way because they didn't have a choice?"

"The hell does it matter? I'd kill 'em."

"I guess," Yukine said. He kicked his feet into the gravel.

"Hey, Yukine," Yato said. He and Kazuma were coming out into the porch. "You and Nana finish up. We're gonna take Kazuma back to Bishamon."

"Why?" Yukine said. "She released him. You don't even know if she wants him."

"Oi, Yukine-"

"It's okay, Yato," Kazuma said. Yukine bristled silently. Yato stepped forward.

"C'mon, Yukine. Don't be like that. Let the guy talk to Bishamon and he'll get out of your hair."

There was a tense silence. Yukine shoved his hands in his pockets, glaring at the sidewalk, while Kazuma stood behind Yato, awkwardly.

"Yukine-kun?" Hiyori said. She stepped out onto the porch. "Do you and Nana want to go to my grandma's?"

"Huh?" Yukine said. Nana glanced up.

Hiyori smiled. "My grandma loves having other guests, and my mom said I could invite anyone I wanted over from school. I thought maybe while Kazuma-san was talking to Bishamon-sama, the two of you could join us?"

Yukine glanced at Nana, then at Yato.

"Whatever," Yukine said, standing. "I don't really care."

xXx

.

At Kofuku's house, Bishamon paced on the phone, worriedly.

A god's ability to teleport depended on the strength of that god. Yato, who didn't have a name or much in the way of followers, could only teleport someplace where someone made a wish; Tenjin, who was universally beloved all over Japan, was practically omniscient - he could teleport anywhere, anytime within Japan.

Bishamon, who recently lost her name, could only teleport someplace where someone made a wish, or to places she had been before. And while she had been to Iki Hiyori's school and Iki Hiyori's neighborhood, she had never actually been to Iki Hiyori's house.

"Iki Hiyori's house?" Bishamon held the phone between her shoulder and her ear, frantically looking for a pen and paper. "I've never been to Iki Hiyori's house."

Kofuku and Daikoku glanced at each other. Bishamon had arrived a few hours earlier, already worried when Nana and Yukine didn't come home. "Don't worry, Bisha~!" Kofuku had said. "Yato-chan is with them! Even if there's monsters it'll be okay!"

"They're just bakin' a cake," Daikoku said. "It should be done pretty soon now."

That was a few hours ago: it was well after sunset now, and Bishamon paced around the tiny room and talked with the phone cocked against her ear.

"Yatogami, slow down," Bishamon said. "What train am I taking? What stop?

"Well how do I get there?" Bishamon said. "Yatogami, what direction do I walk?"

Kofuku and Daikoku frowned at each other, watching as Bishamon grew more and more unhinged as the telephone conversation wore on.

"Ask Iki Hiyori for her address," Bishamon was saying. "No, I don't know how to find it on a map, I'm going to use the internet.

"Yes, Yatogami. The Internet. Kazuma taught me about that." A pause. "What do you mean Iki Hiyori left for her grandmother's house? And she took our shinki too? Well can you not just message her?

"Yes, a _text_ , Yatogami, believe it or not I am up-to-date with the lingo of this century.

"She doesn't have her phone?

"Well then text your shinki to ask her." A pause. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR SHINKI IS IGNORING YOU?!"

"Bisha, what's wrong?" Kofuku said. Bishamon turned.

"Kazuma is at Iki Hiyori's house."

"Hey, that's great," Daikoku said. "You've been lookin' for him, right?" Bishamon shook her head.

"My Kazuma is gravely ill. He's already fading and the Yatogami is unarmed."

Bishamon cradled the phone to her ear.

"You MAY NOT walk him here, Yatogami!" Bishamon was pacing, agitated. "No! You are without a shinki and my Kazuma cannot protect himself! I will escort you." Pause. "I know I don't have a shinki either, Yatogami, but we both know in unarmed combat I'm better than you." Pause. "I am _not_ risking my Kazuma because your ego is sore!"

"Holy shit," Daikoku breathed. Kofuku stepped forward.

"Bisha, you want me and Kokki to go get them?" Kofuku said.

"So you can open a vent and have a phantom can eat them?!" Bishamon knitted her brow. "No, forgive me, Kofuku-dono. That was out of turn."

She started talking on the phone. "Yatogami! What do you mean you can't find the address? Well lots of streets have trees, Yatogami, that does little to help me!

Yatogami? Yatogami, answer me!

YATOGAMI-"

" _Veena?_ "

Bishamon stopped.

"...Kazuma?"

A pause on the other end of the line.

" _Veena. It's good to hear you, Veena._ "

"Kazuma." Bishamon pressed her hand over the receiver.

His voice was as calm and placid as she remembered. He spoke to her as he always spoke to her, as if they were never separated and he was simply in her office, giving another report.

" _Veena I have the address, I just looked through Iki-san's mail. Do you have a pen and paper ready?_ "

"I, yes-" Bishamon scrabbled for a pen. "Yes, Kazuma, I'm ready."

The pen scratched lightly on the paper as she wrote down the address. Kazuma continued to speak calmly. " _For future reference, Veena, you can always figure out the address by looking at the street number and the street signs outside. But since this is a private domicile, the homeowner's mail is usually readily available._ "

Bishamon was visibly shaken. "Yes, of course, Kazuma. But you should have told Yato."

There was a pause on the other end - Kazuma probably smiling. " _I'm glad I can still be of use to you,_ " he said.

Her whole body language changed. She bent her head down, speaking softly into the phone.

"It's good to talk to you," Bishamon said, honestly. On the phone, Kazuma answered.

" _I know, Veena. It's good to talk to you, too._ "


	18. Omens

.

.

The first time he saw her, he was planting rice in the fields. Back stooped and the sleeves of his robe tied up, he sloshed through the ankle-deep warm water when he saw her: a woman, standing among the crowd of laborers.

He thought it odd at first that no one noticed her, moreso because she was beautiful and silent and seemingly out-of-place with the workers on the terrace. She surveyed the workers quietly, her eyes scanning the scene in front of her, until she saw him staring at her. Their eyes met briefly. She looked at him and smiled.

He forced his eyes down, concentrating on the feel of warm mud and the rice he was supposed to be planting, and when he looked back up again she was gone.

xXx

.

When he was born, his green eyes and brown hair were portents of ill-omens. The midwives told his parents to leave him.

"You're lying," the other orphans told him, when he was five years-old and crying in the grass. He had seen a phantom and no one believed him.

He grew up learning that no one else could see what he could see. Once, he saw a phantom sit at the back of a farmer, who later on he heard had plowed a stake through his wife's back. It frightened him and when he ran to tell the others he was backhanded for his insolence. At night, he could hear whispers of people praying or crying, and while the other children slept he clutched his blankets and tried to look away from the millions of eyes that seemed to be staring at him.

"Freak!" someone said. "The horses died because it's your fault, freak!"

There was too much shouting to understand them.

He slammed shoulder-first into the ground, the others were screaming and kicking him. He curled up into his body and blocked the blows by his head. The villagers shouted and yelled and as he cracked open his eyes he could see phantoms possessing the men who were tormenting him.

He started covering his hair. Using a pale scarf, he tied it around his head so that his hair was covered, and if he kept his head down, no one noticed the color of his eyes.

In the mirror, he could see a phantom grinning, watching him.

He took solace in the temple. There were no phantoms there, and everyone's heads stayed bowed while they were praying. He kept his eyes fixed on his knees as he knelt at the temple, and while the monks wafted incense he pretended to pray.

xXx

.

He saw the woman for a second time, standing at the temple.

She was closer now, and without the brightness of the sun obscuring his vision, he could see her much more clearly. Like him, her coloring was different; long blonde hair, which was done up in loping tresses, hung loosely about her shoulders, and her eyes were the color of overripe plums.

No one was bothering her. Usually people who looked different garnered rude stares or harsh whispers, but the worshipers kept their heads bowed in prayer. Gracefully, she glided past them as if surveying them, her hands tucked primly into her kimono.

She walked behind him, and he forced his eyes back down.

xXx

.

He saw her a few more times after that: standing alone in the courtyard, or standing beneath a parasol under the watchful gaze of an older woman. On occasion the older woman would speak to her sternly and take her hand, and the woman would look out longingly toward the other worshipers, as if she wanted to join them.

He wondered, idly, if she faced the same things as him.

She probably didn't, of course. From the way she was dressed, he knew at least she was shielded by the privilege of her station. He wondered if he had been born to a different family, if things would be different for him.

"You envy me," a voice said, and he looked up and saw her standing beside him, watching him. "Why is it that you envy me?"

"Forgive me," he said, and he forced his eyes down. "I did not mean to stare."

She glided around to the front of the steps, the train of her kimono trailing behind her. "You do not have any wishes," she said. "The other worshipers are giving their prayers."

"There is nothing I want to wish for." He tried to ignore the fact that she was standing close, that she smelled good or that his foot was brushing against the train of her kimono.

"All humans have something they wish for," she said. "And you're telling me you do not?"

She peered down at him, those strange eyes searching his.

"Perhaps your wish is a quiet place, where you can be alone with your thoughts." She rose abruptly, adjusting her shawl. "I suggest visiting the shrine of the god Ebisu. He is a lucky god. I'm sure by then you can think of a wish he can grant you."

xXx

.

In his short life, he has always been wandering.

He would keep to himself just long enough. But then something would happen - a plague or a drought, the inexplicable deaths of farm animals, a band of thieves and murderers. Always he would see the storm of phantoms swirling around them, and always he would try to warn them before it was too late. But then the villagers would always blame him. Eventually he stopped warning them at all.

And so he'd leave, before the next plague or fire or drought would fall on the village, and soon enough the survivors would meet others from different villages close to them and speak of the quiet green-eyed man whose inexplicable leaving was an omen for disaster.

He came to the temple at night. There were no phantoms here, and no other villagers from whom he'd have to keep his head covered. Quietly he unwrapped his scarf and kneeled, bowing his head as if in silent prayer.

"You are back," the woman said, and he glanced up, surprised to be looking at her. "Have you found your wish?"

"I have not."

She tilted her head curiously. "Then why is it that you've come here?"

His eyes darted up toward hers furtively, before resting his gaze on a neutral spot on the floor. "I suppose I am here for the same reason you are here," he said, quietly. "I imagine it is unusual for a woman of your station be at the temple alone."

"Indeed. The temple is a refuge for me," she said. "You are saying this place is a refuge for you as well?"

"I suppose I am," he said. Quietly he stood and bowed, gathering himself. "I beg your pardon."

"Of course."

He gave her a quick bow and started to leave.

 _Smells good_.

He stopped. Just beyond the temple periphery, a phantom was lingering, watching them.

Behind him, the woman slid her hands into her sleeves. She began to walk down the steps to join him.

"Wait." He grabbed her by the wrist. She stopped, surprised.

 _Smells good. Smells good._

"My lady," he said, his eyes trained on the phantom. "I beg of you not to go there."

"You see them," she said. He looked at her, surprised. "Tell me what it is that you see."

"I-" his throat was dry.

"I see a pink phantom about the size of that tree."

She tilted her head at him, furrowing her brow.

"I have never met a person who could see them," she said. "Do not be frightened. Phantoms cannot enter sacred grounds. You and I are safe here." And he looked at her again, at her golden hair and plum-colored eyes.

"I thought I was the only one," he said, and he realized that he was still clutching her wrist. He quickly dropped his hand, blinking and blushing. "Forgive me," he said. She shook her head at him, smiling.

"I had thought you were an odd one. You come here to seek refuge from phantoms?"

"Yes," he said. She nodded, understanding.

"I seek refuge from phantoms here as well."

His heart leapt. He never thought there could be anyone else who could understand him. Who could see things that only he could see. Who was also burdened by their gift and ostracized, alone.

"Why this temple?" she asked. "There are shrines to other gods and yet you come to this temple only. Why?"

"I suppose I feel an affinity here."

"Oh?"

"Bishamonten is a foreign god who traces his lineage back to India," he said, and the feelings he kept guarded closely to his chest seemed to tumble outward. "To think that a foreign god can get a foothold here...it makes me feel not so alone."

"Because you are different?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. And then, a confession: "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

"Perhaps because you and I share an affinity." She smiled at him kindly.

"I don't often talk to people like this," he said. His eyes flicked upward, shyly. "I suppose I do feel an affinity toward you."

"You don't have friends or family to speak to?" she asked. He shook his head.

"No."

"Why?" she asked, and he smiled at her, touching his hair.

"I imagine it is the same for you," he said. She laughed kindly. He watched as she tucked her hands into her sleeves.

"You do not have a wish, but I promise you now, you have the god Vaisravana's protection. You've been here often enough."

"You have the ear of the gods?" he said. She smiled.

"I have the ear of more than that," she said, smiling.

She wouldn't let him walk her home. Her estate was far and he could get lost in the woods alone. "Be well," she said, smiling.

"Thank you," he said, and he tied back on his scarf. "I will."

He started to walk back, but realized he didn't know her name. He turned around to ask her, but unfortunately she had already gone.

xXx

.

The next time he saw her, she was sitting at the top of the temple steps, waiting for him.

He couldn't help but smile, rushing up the steps to meet her.

"They have hurt you again." Her eyes landed on a sore spot on the side of his arm. He tugged his sleeves down, self-consciously. "You need to ask for Vaisravana's protection. The gods cannot help you unless you ask."

"I thought you said I had Bishamonten's blessing?" he said, smiling. She frowned at him unhappily.

"That may be so, but the gods cannot find you if you don't wish for them to."

There was an easy silence between them. Sometimes she would worry over the scrapes and bruises he sustained that were par for the course of showing his face among the villagers (this time, it was a land-owning farmer who accused him of poisoning his ox). Other times they would sit and enjoy each other's company. Either way, she always was worried about him. "I assure you, this does not happen every day," he said.

"Oh?" she picked at his sleeve, frowning. "Because it seems to me that that is exactly the case."

He walked with her to the market. They perused the different stalls and he watched as her eyes widened, delighted, at the different vendors and merchants around them. "Everything is so wonderful," she said, awestruck. "The people here all created this?"

"The merchants generally represent themselves at the market," he said, and he watched as she walked along the stalls, captivated. It didn't surprise him that she had never seen a market before; she seemed like someone who had long been sheltered, and it pleased him that he was someone who could show her.

"'Veena?'" he said, when she told him her name. "That is an unusual name. 'Veena.'" He rolled the name like a marble in his tongue.

"It is foreign," she said. For once she seemed hesitant, slightly unsure. "My real name is different. Harder to pronounce."

"I like your name," he said, earnestly. She smiled at him and he blushed, looking away.

xXx

.

They were walking along a crowded market street, the train of her kimono dragging along the packed dirt along the stalls, when she told him. "My overseer doesn't like me consorting with you," she said. "I told her she was being ridiculous, of course. I am free to see whomever I please."

"Is it because of my station?"

She glanced back at him, as if considering her words. "I suppose that is a way to put it," she said. "But you are helping me with my education. One cannot learn if they refuse to leave the confines of their walls."

"I hope," he began, and he hesitated. "I hope you know I would never do anything to harm you."

"I know," she said. He stopped and turned to her, earnestly.

"Lady Veena. If...if being with me is harming you, or somehow damaging your reputation...I agree with your overseer that you should not be out with me."

"What?" She started to laugh, warmly. "In this place, I barely have a reputation," she said, smiling. "I would be happy if people acknowledged I exist."

"People don't acknowledge you exist?" He thought of the villagers, of their cruel glances and casual disdain. She smiled, tucking back a strand of hair.

"Well as you know, I am not from here."

That night, he lay looking up at the ceiling, thinking of her. He thought again of the people in the square and how the merchants at the markets ignored her. He thought it was out of politeness at first, but it really seemed as if they did not see her. As if she wasn't standing in the market, like she didn't exist at all.

xXx

.

He wanted to protect her.

He felt, maybe, just maybe, she was lonely just like him. That despite their differences in class she felt the need to reach out to him. How they both could see phantoms. How they both had strange hair and strange eyes, the mark of ill-omens cursing them.

Increasingly, the villagers were growing more suspicious of him. Phantom storms were increasing and livestock and crops were dying. He knew he had to leave soon, but he thought of her, and he couldn't bring himself to.

xXx

.

It was raining when the blow struck him.

"My daughter died because of you!" one villager said, and he threw his hand up, blocking the beating. The villager staggered, falling. He scrambled to his knees.

"You looked at her." The villager was drunk, his face flushed and red. "You looked at her and she died soon after."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said helplessly, but the man lurched heavily on his feet, lunging toward him.

He managed to evade the blow, but barely. The man pitched forward, then fell face-first into a puddle, the mud splattering up to his knees.

He was about to leave when he ran into two other men. The stared at him angrily. Their eyes narrowed.

xXx

.

"What happened to you?" the woman said. She ran toward him as he dragged himself up the temple steps, catching him by the arm and hitching his weight against her shoulder.

"They...they thought I had killed someone's daughter."

"What?!"

"I guess I accidentally looked at her."

His vision was fuzzy. A stream of blood coursed down the gash on the side of his temple.

xXx

.

He woke up to warm sheets and a quiet darkness, and the outline of a woman sitting in the moonlight, watching him.

"Where am I?" he sat up with difficulty, wincing at the fresh cuts and bruises peppering his arms. "Am I in your estate?"

"Why didn't you pray for me?"

"What?" he said.

"If you don't wish for it, the gods cannot answer!"

"I don't know that I believe in gods," he said. His head was fuzzy, hurting. She stood up angrily, walking toward him.

"I told you already: you have Vaisravana's protection. All you need to do is ask for it."

"I'm afraid I don't underst-"

"Vaisravana cannot find you unless you wish for it!"

She was angry because she was worried about him. And maybe it was the blood loss, but he couldn't help but smile.

"Wha-" she blinked, mid-tirade. "Why are you laughing?"

"Forgive me." He smiled, shaking his head. "It's just...it's funny for me to see you so angry."

There was righteous fury in her eyes: " _It amuses you to see me angry?_!"

"It amuses me because no one else has cared for me."

"Why should that be funny?" she asked, incredulously.

He shifted uncomfortably in the bed. "Forgive me," he said, quietly. "I was caught off-guard. I didn't expect that you would go to these lengths to help me."

"Of course I would," she said. "You're my human. You are a treasured friend."

He blushed and stare at the bedsheets. The wording was off, but he thought perhaps he knew what she meant. He was hers. The simple truth of those words sat heavily on his chest, and despite himself, his eyes filled with tears.

She started forward. "What's wrong?" she said. He shook his head, smiling happily.

"Nothing," he said, and he smiled, wiping his eyes. "Nothing. I'm just...I'm just happy."

"You're crying because you're happy?"

"Yes," he said. She frowned at him, not understanding.

"Ridiculous, I know." He sniffed and wiped his eyes. She sat beside him on the bed, taking his hand carefully.

 _I wish I could be with her_. The thought bubbled out before he could catch it. He loved her, but he was in a lower station than her. There was no way she would be with someone like him.

Her hands were warm. He could feel her thumbs pressing gently into his palm.

"Is that what you wish?" she asked. Her brow furrowed. Her eyes flicked upward, meeting his. "What did you mean when you said you wished to be with me?"

Did he say that out loud?

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I-"

It unspooled from him like a silver thread. A vision of him kissing her, his hand cupping the side of her cheek. Of holding her and making love to her, of smiling and kissing and lying happily beside her.

"Is that all that you wish for?" Her eyes were warm. Amused. "I can grant that, easily."

"I don't understand," he said, and she carefully leaned beside him. Her hand gently caressed his chest, before peeling back the collar of his robe open.

"Veena," he said, and she smiled and kissed him slowly and languorously, a tender hand reaching upward, then gently resting at the side of his cheek.

xXx

.

He didn't see her for a long time, after that.

For the first time, he prayed in the temple. Thunder rolled. Heavy rain lashed angrily against the sides of the temple. _Vaisravana please let me see her._

"You're looking for me?" she asked, and he whirled around, shocked at seeing her standing drenched in the rain.

"How long have you been there?" he asked. She smiled and walked forward.

"I've just arrived," she said, softly. She knelt down beside him, bowing her head as if in prayer.

"I wanted to apologize," she said, not looking at him. "My overseer has expressed her dismay at me making love to you."

The words galled him. He looked up at her, horrified.

"I'm sorry," he said, hoarsely. "I didn't mean to sully you. I didn't-I mean, I need you to know...I'm so sorry, but I've fallen in love with you."

She looked up. A slash of lightning filled the sky, framing her face, before darkening again.

"I love you," he said again. "I want to stay by your side and I want to protect you."

"I'm not the one who needs protecting," she said, gently.

"I want to marry you," he said. "I don't want you to think that I was using you."

Her eyes widened a little. He screwed his face tight, plowing forward.

"I know I'm young, and that we're of different stations," he said. "But I know that I can be a good husband to you."

"We can't marry," she said, softly.

"You can leave with me. We can go wherever we want-"

"We can't marry," she said. He blinked hard and stared at the ground.

His hands had balled up into fists. Quietly she rested her hands on top of his, her thumbs gently stroking the white his knuckles.

"We can't see each other anymore," she said, gently. "I know it hurts for you now, but I promise you, you won't remember."

"I love you, I want to be with you, how could I not remember?"

"Believe me," she said, softly. "Those in the Near Shore never remember."

"That doesn't make any sense," he said, hoarsely. She smiled at him sadly, then rose.

"Wait. Talk to me-"

"You will always have Vaisravana's protection," she said. "All you need to do is ask for it."

"Wait-"

Lightning crashed, and then she was gone.

xXx

.

There was a swirl of phantoms rising beneath the storm.

He didn't bother to hide. Not anymore. Not when the villagers around him grew possessed, not when they fell to their knees and screamed and lunged toward him.

One hand, tearing off the scarf that covered the brown hairs sticking to his forehead. Another hand, clawing at the green of his eyes.

They threw his body into the riverbank. His body rolled, pitching and slamming into the rocks below them. His legs were broken and his vision was hazy. He could see her figure staring at him from above the ground.

"Why didn't you ask for my protection?"

There was a yellow haze, streaks of light beneath of the storm.

"My poor, sweet human," she said, softly.

"All I can do is make sure you don't die alone."

xXx

.

In the temple, Kazuma sat alone in his tattered kimono, the memories of his past life haunting him.

"Why didn't she tell me?" he asked Yato, without telling him the details. "Why didn't she tell me how I died?"

"Because if she told you, it would have shattered your name and you would have turned into a phantom," Yato said. And then Yato told him about a God's Greatest Secret, the reason why Veena never told him.

Hurt and sorrow. Anger and regret. He huddled by the temple and fought the feelings rising out of him by turns.

Around him, worshipers at Veena's temple shivered, crouching among themselves, and if it weren't for Iki Masaomi, he wouldn't have realized he was starting to turn.


	19. Omens, part 2

.

.

"Oi," Daikoku said. "Which one of you idiots didn't buckle up?!"

He glanced back at Kazuma and Bishamon. "Er," Daikoku said. "I wasn't talkin' about you two."

In the end, Daikoku offered to drive her to Iki Hiyori's house, driving them in his SUV to pick up Kazuma and Yato. "Oh, Daikoku-san, I couldn't ask that of you," Bishamon had said. Daikoku waved his hand.

"It's no problem. You need a shinki who can draw a borderline, right? Plus it'd be quicker to get to Hiyori-chan's if I drive."

"Thank you, Daikoku-san. I am once again in your debt," Bishamon said, and she opened the passenger-side door.

Now Bishamon was sitting in the backseat with Kazuma, while Yato loudly called for shotgun. "Losers in the back!" Yato said, and he hopped into the passenger seat while Daikoku grunted and rolled his eyes. Bishamon smiled - she knew it was the Yatogami's way of being considerate.

Now Daikoku was yelling at Yato because the car was beeping from him not having buckled up.

"Relax Daikoku-papa, I'm a god!" Yato said. "It's not like I'd break my neck if we get in a car accident."

"I don't give a shit if you break your neck in a car accident, you're setting off the alarm!"

Bishamon giggled. She glanced at Kazuma, who gave her a polite smile.

Bishamon stopped. That was odd. There was a measured distance between them, and as Daikoku drove in the darkness she watched as Kazuma looked out the window not saying anything, his face illuminated by turns from the passing stores and streetlights across from him.

He didn't say much when she greeted him. The first thing she did when they answered the door was rush inside and throw her arms around him. She had missed him and she felt bereft without their connection, but as she hugged him she realized he was standing stiffly in her arms.

"Kazuma?" she had said, and he just smiled at her apologetically.

"Forgive me, Veena," he had said. "It's been a long day and I'm feeling a little tired."

That made sense. It was taking all of his energy just to maintain physical form. Bishamon nodded, understanding.

"Kazuma. If you need to draw from my life force, please feel free to do so. I'm not human. A little spiritual drainage won't hurt a god."

"With all due respect, Veena, you've lost access to your name and half of your believers," Kazuma said. "I'd rather not test it, even if you are a god."

She glanced back at Yato, who just frowned and shrugged.

"You should drain Daikoku then!" Yato said, and Daikoku glared at him. "Ha ha! That guy's got energy to spare!"

"I vote that we just leave him," Daikoku said to Bishamon.

Daikoku pulled up into Kofuku's driveway, switching off the headlights as Kofuku threw open the door.

"Bisha! Kazu-chan! Come in, come in!" Kofuku said. Bishamon watched as Kazuma politely took off his sandals and followed them silently down the hall. "Nana-chan and Bisha have been staying in the guest room above the store."

"It's quite nice," Bishamon added. "It's separated from the main house, so we have a modicum of privacy."

"Mm! And Nana-chan is staying at Hiyorin's tonight, so you two will get _plenty_ of privacy!" Kofuku said, in a tone suggestive of something rather obscene.

Bishamon glanced at Kazuma, who kept his eyes fixed on the floor. "Kofuku-dono, please don't make this too awkward for him. I don't think he can take those kind of jokes tonight," Bishamon said.

"Ah, sorry Bisha." Kofuku winked. "But I'm still rooting for Kazu-chan."

"Rooting?" Bishamon said, as Kofuku skipped down the stairs. "Rooting for what?"

Kazuma sighed. "It's probably best not to think about it," he said, and he stepped inside.

The guest room above the store was built like a little apartment - Daikoku often used it when he was tabulating receipts. There was a small shower and bathroom and a little kitchenette area she and Nana could use, even though Daikoku always cooked for them in the main house. In the sleeping area, there were two futons laid side-by-side, one for Nana and one for Bishamon, and their clothes were folded neatly in the closet behind them.

"Do spirits sleep?" Bishamon asked. She hefted the second futon open, laying it next to hers. "I'm afraid I only know the habits of my shinki."

"Please do not worry about it," Kazuma said. Bishamon began fussing with the bedsheets.

"Well, for now I can use Nana's futon, and you can use mine," Bishamon said. "I'll see if Kofuku-dono has a spare, but if not the two of you can use them, I'm fine with sleeping on the floor."

"I-" Kazuma started to speak, but seemed to think the better of it. Bishamon dusted her hands behind the seat of her pants before reaching out to hug him again.

"I've missed you," Bishamon said. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "I've spent every night looking for you. And to think that all this time you were at my shrine."

"Well," Kazuma said, softly. "I suppose I've always had an affinity there."

Bishamon pulled back, surprised. Kazuma looked at her quietly.

"I remember," Kazuma said. His eyes shone like mirrors. "I remember everything."

"Oh my god," Bishamon said. Slowly she backed into the couch and carefully sat down.

"I'm sorry," Bishamon said. She looked up at him, quietly. "I crossed a line with you I should never have crossed, and at the time I didn't understand."

She swallowed, looking at her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Ryuunosuke."

The name seemed to catch. Kazuma took a shuddery breath, then swallowed. He blinked his eyes, a tear spilling over.

"Forgive me, Veena," he said, softly. "I wasn't going to say anything. I was hoping that these feelings would blow over."

Bishamon perched on the couch, watching him. As he breathed the outline of his body seemed to flicker and waver, the wave of his emotions destabilizing him.

"All this time," he started, then took a breath, composing himself. "All this time I thought I kept my feelings a secret from you. And yet all this time, you knew. It is...well I suppose it is a little bit humiliating," he said, honestly. "What must you have thought of me? Those pictures I took of you...the comics...that ridiculous marriage certificate-"

"Ryuunosuke, wait-"

"-I can't help but wonder if all this time, you simply pitied me."

"No," Bishamon said. Her voice was hollow. "No. I never pitied you."

Kazuma fell silent. His eyes were wet and she could see his outline waver. Spirits without borderlines were susceptible to decay, until eventually they would vanish into nothing but pockets of residual emotion, all their hurt and sorrows haunting the place where they faded away.

"Is that why you wouldn't let any other god give you a name?" Bishamon said, softly. Kazuma nodded.

"To think that we made love once...I didn't want to forget," he said. He smiled, ruefully. "I suppose there is a reason why they call it a God's Greatest Secret," he said. Bishamon sniffed and laughed, wiping her eyes.

"Are you leaving after this?" Bishamon asked. Kazuma nodded quietly.

"I'm going to find the holy river so I can try to pass over."

"I hope you find it," Bishamon said. "You most of all deserve to be reincarnated."

He smiled. For the first time the entire night, he sat down on the couch beside her.

She leaned against his shoulder. She always found comfort in his physical proximity, and wordlessly he shifted so that she was huddled closer against him. She touched his hand, the place where his mark used to be, and tried to ignore the emptiness where there used to be a connection.

"You know," she said, leaning against his chest. "I love and care for all my shinki. But I've always loved you differently."

He shifted to look at her. She hugged his waist and smiled.

"You were the only one I could give my confidence to," she said. "And my connection to you was the strongest. If you asked me, I would have made love to you," she said. "I wouldn't have granted that to the other shinki."

"I-" Kazuma looked at her. "I don't understand."

"I'm not the best at...articulating this. And you know I'm not very good at showing human affection. But I don't regret that I made love to you," she said.

"Veena, are you...are you serious?"

"I'm always serious," Bishamon said. His grip around her tightened.

"Veena, you...you love me?"

"I told you, Ryuunosuke, I love all my shinki," Bishamon said.

"But you love me differently?"

"I-" Bishamon laughed, pushing back a strand of hair. "I've loved you even when you were just a human," she said, smiling. She pressed her forehead against his.

"Then why...why did you regret being with me?" he said. She smiled, then pressed her hand to the side of his cheek.

"Because the old cleric told me, 'a god that lies with humans only brings with him pain and calamity,'" Bishamon said. She smiled. "I suppose it's a good thing that you're no longer human."

"Veena," he started, but she kissed him. The chill of his body gradually grew warm.


	20. Hafuri

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.

"I've done things - I've done terrible things to protect my master!"

Nana watched as Bishamonten's hafuri broke down, the lines of his face distorted by the white shimmer of their borderlines. She watched as he wept and retched out broken apologies, sobbing over all the people he betrayed and led to their deaths, a litany of sins he committed for the love of his master.

The other two shinki - Bishamonten's Lion and the Yatogami's hafuri - said nothing, and as the ablution continued it puzzled her, then angered her, and silently she wondered how the hell he became Bishamonten's hafuri, when he was on his knees sniveling about wanting to protect her. Once, Nana shot through the heavens and carved out a piece of the sun for her master, offering it to him like a chunk of newly torn flesh. She would never apologize. She would never bow, would never lower herself for the satisfaction of heaven. She watched stonily as Bishamonten's hafuri whimpered like a child in front of them, and she wondered how it was that he commanded such respect.

Later, when the ablution was finished, he was still hunched over on his knees, the tattered remnants of his suit jacket torn and covered with blood and dust. A pathetic, sniveling creature, clawing at the earth and trembling with shame.

She would never apologize for protecting her Aya-sama.

xXx

.

It took her by surprise, running into Bishamonten's hafuri in the middle of Hiyori's house, but then again, lots of things on this earth surprised her now, so much so that she was getting used to it. Without a name to tether him to this world, his form kept shifting between the two shores of their existence - at one moment, he was more solid, more grounded in the Near Shore; at the next, he was moreso in the Far Shore, his figure more shimmery and translucent. Looking at him, at his skeletal figure waxing between life and death, one would not be wrong to expect her to be irritated: she had spent the better part of a millennia trapped in a torment of unending darkness, and this half-hearted hafuri still had his freedom. It should annoy her that he didn't take advantage of it, instead squandering his gift by just moping around.

But the truth was, Nana didn't care. Even as her mastered obsessed with finding him and her friend whinged about him betraying him, Nana couldn't muster the mental energy to feel anything about him. Yukine, on the other hand, seethed with quiet indignation.

"That guy's the worst," Yukine said. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching as Hiyori and Yato spoke to Kazuma. Nana glanced at him, then looked back at their shopping bag of cake stuff. Yukine scowled. "Why does he have to be here?"

Nana squatted by the bag and picked up the mixing bowl Daikoku had saran-wrapped for them earlier. She peeled back the wrapping and sniffed at it, pleased. The cake mixture was finished; all they had to do was bake it.

"He doesn't irritate you?" Yukine said. Nana licked a swipe of batter from the side of the bowl. She replaced the saran wrap and put the bowl back into the bag. "I mean, didn't you say it pissed you off, once? How he kept crying and apologizing for protecting his master?"

"Why do we have to wash the strawberries?" Nana said.

"Huh?"

"The strawberries," Nana repeated. She picked up the little carton and showed it to him. "They look fine to me."

"Uh, I think because of dirt and pesticides and stuff."

"What's pesticides?" Nana said. Hiyori stepped forward.

"Nana-chan, Yukine-kun. Let's head over to my grandma's," Hiyori said. "I just called my mom to let her know we're coming over."

"Can we bake this cake there?" Nana said. Yukine glared.

xXx

.

Hiyori stopped by a convenience store first; Nana walked along the brightly lit aisles, reverently touching the little bottles of cosmetics while Hiyori kept picking up and comparing different bottles of foundation. After a few minutes, she found the right shade; she grinned and paid for her purchase, skipping out the door.

"Okay, Nana-chan," Hiyori said. "This is just some makeup. We have to cover the name on your face before we go to my grandma's."

"Why?" Nana said.

"Because it looks like a tattoo, and my parents might start asking questions about you."

She unscrewed the cap of the foundation. She daubed a bit on her fingers and reached out to touch Nana's face. Nana flinched away from her.

"Nana-chan?"

"Don't." Nana gritted her teeth. "I don't like anyone touching my face." She thought of that box again, of how she was shoved and packed into that tight, airless space.

"Oh, sorry, Nana-chan," Hiyori said. She handed her the bottle and pulled out a mirror.

xXx

.

They were talking about Bishamonten's hafuri again.

Nana and Yukine were staying the night. Nana was lying on the futon with her arms behind her head, while Yukine and Hiyori were talking quietly. "Why does Yato always have to listen to him?" Yukine was saying. "I'm the one who's supposed to be his exemplar, I'm the one who has to guide him."

Nana sighed and watched the shadows on the ceiling. She tried to let their voices fade into the background like a pleasant hum.

"Well, Yukine-kun, you know Yato didn't have a shinki for a very long time, and Kazuma-san was the only one there who could guide him."

"So then why am I his exemplar if he's not gonna listen to me?"

"I mean, kings have advisors and counselors. They give them advice but kings don't always listen."

"That shitty jersey's not a king, Hiyori."

"Well a god is slightly better than a king."

"Not a shitty god like him."

Nana rolled over. It wasn't any of her business, but what the hell was a hafuri doing shit-talking his master?

She remembered that day in battle, Bishamonten swinging her weapon-form toward the sorcerer. He blocked but Shikki countered, and Bishamonten took one hard swing toward his head. Nana gritted her teeth. _"Kill him. Maim him. Mash him to the bone!"_

And then, at the moment of contact, Bishamonten screamed.

 _"What-" In Bishamonten's mind, Nana whirled around. "What the hell are you doing? What's going on?!"_

 _"I was stung." Bishamon winced, a drop of sweat trickling down her brow. "Someone stung me."_

 _"Fuck."_

 _"Ha!" The sorcerer laughed, swinging his staff over his shoulder. "Let's see how you'll defeat me now."_

Nana frowned, remembering. That idiot, Bishamonten's hafuri, made things worse.

"Oi, Nana," Yukine said, and Nana turned to her side to look at him. "You're being quiet. How come you're not saying anything?"

"Not my place to say." Nana looked up at the ceiling. Ten thousand years in a black box made it so that you picked and chose your battles, and getting yourself worked up over someone stupid really wasn't worth it. She didn't say that out loud, however.

"I mean, it's not like I care about him or anything," Yukine said. He stared at the ceiling, gripping the sheet on his futon. "It's just, I used to respect him. You know?"

There was a long silence. Nana touched the foundation on her face, frowning at the liquid makeup that came off on her fingers.

"So what if you don't respect him?" Nana said. "He's just some guy. He won't do anything to you."

"I was an idiot for trusting him." Yukine stared up at the ceiling. "He betrayed me and turned his back on Yato. And yet Yato still thinks of him as his friend."

"You think of him as a threat?"

"Yeah."

"Then kill 'em," Nana said.

"Huh?"

"Kill 'em," Nana said, and she rolled over.

"Ugh," Yukine said. The shadows above them turned. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you."

"Well what do you want me to say? You're both being stupid," Nana said.

"Tch! I am not!" Yukine said.

"You're whining about being betrayed. He's whining about the things he did to protect his master. If you don't like him, kill 'em. If you don't wanna kill 'em, that's your call."

"I am not going to kill Kazuma-san! And what the hell, Nana, he belongs to your master!"

"She released him, right?"

"Well-"

"She's not my Aya-sama, but I'd smash his face in to protect her."

"You're crazy," Yukine said.

"You know I'm right," Nana said.

Another long silence. Outside, the leaves rustled, the moonlight casting a soft glow against the wall.

"Hey, Nana."

"Huh?"

"What would you do if your master named Kazuma-san again?"

Nana blinked up into the darkness, considering.

"He'd better just pray to fuck he doesn't sting our master," Nana said.


	21. Hafuri, part 2

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.

 _Luggage._

 _A woman and a girl, looking back at him._

 _Letters._

 _A limp hand lying palm-up in a puddle._

 _A man._

Yukine sat up, pushing off the covers.

The nightlight Hiyori had plugged in glowed a muted yellow, and the mark on his collarbone ached. Beside him, Nana was snoring and Hiyori was curled on her side, sleeping. The leaves rustled from the wind outside.

The dream he had unsettled him; quietly he sat up from the futon and tiptoed around the kitchen, going to the sink to get himself a glass of water.

"Can't sleep?" someone said, and Yukine turned to see Hiyori's grandmother smiling at him.

"Oh, obaachan. I didn't mean to wake you," Yukine said. Hiyori's grandmother smiled.

"I'm always happy to see the familiar of a god of fortune," she said, smiling. She sat down carefully at the table, favoring the arthritis in her knees. "Don't worry," she said, winking. "The children still don't know."

"...children?" Yukine said, and then he realized she was talking about Hiyori's parents. "Oh yeah. Hiyori told them we were friends from school."

He sat in the chair beside her, drinking from the glass of water.

It was nice, sitting in the kitchen like this. It was the same feeling he got sometimes when he and Yato ate with Kofuku and Daikoku. A feeling of warmth and family, like he had somewhere he belonged.

"So, young man," her grandmother said, kindly. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Huh?" Yukine said. Her grandmother smiled.

Yukine's hands took the shape of the glass. He could see his reflection in the water.

"I had a bad dream," Yukine said.

"The spirits can dream?" Hiyori's grandmother said.

"Sometimes," Yukine said. He blinked, trying to find his words. "It felt...it felt like something that happened before."

Hiyori's grandmother smiled, kindly. "Try not to think too much about it," she said, and she patted him on the shoulder.

Yukine watched as she puttered around the kitchen. The shadow that had been haunting her now lurked around the corridor. Death will take her soon, Yukine realized, and he kept his eyes lowered.

"Hey. Whatcha doin'?" Nana said, and Yukine and the grandmother both looked up. The grandmother smiled, delighted.

"Another familiar!" the grandmother said. "My, Hiyori-chan makes such good friends. May I ask if you also serve a god of fortune?"

"My master is a god of calamity," Nana said, and she took a gulp from the glass.

The grandmother laughed, turning her back to them to make tea. In the corner of the kitchen, the shadow lingered.

"...The fuck?" Nana breathed. Yukine frowned.

"It's been waiting for Hiyori's grandmother for a few weeks now. Yato says it'll be taking her soon."

Nana stood up. Yukine's eyes widened.

"Nana," Yukine said. Nana walked up to the shadow. "Oi, Nana!"

"I made tea," the grandmother said, smiling. "I've also warmed up some rice in case you two would like some."

Nana cupped her hand over what was probably the shadow's ear; it nodded, then ambled slowly back down the corridor.

"Nana," Yukine said. "What the hell are you doing, Nana?!"

"I asked it to come back later." Nana looked at him as if it was perfectly obvious. "My Aya-sama used to talk to shinigami all the time. Usually you can negotiate with them."

"Negotiate?!" Yukine stared.

"It'll come back to check on her next year."


	22. Omens, part 3

.

.

There was a digital clock sitting on the table, the bright green numbers casting a soft glow in the darkness. With difficulty, Kazuma lifted his chin above Veena's head and squinted his eyes until the green haze narrowed into something legible - 2:13 AM. He felt her stir with the movement. She exhaled, softly. He felt her lips graze against the exposed skin of his collarbone.

Unlike shinki, untethered spirits don't sleep. The hours passed and he relished the weight of her body pressed against his. Even in her sleep, Veena kept touching him. An arm draped carelessly across his chest; her fingers tracing along the line of his neck and sternum. The feel of her leg curling across his hip.

In the hours before she fell asleep, they spoke to each other quietly.

"Veena?"

"Hm?"

"What do you think would happen to me...if I somehow got re-named?"

She had been lying luxuriously across his chest, but the question made her push up on her arms to look at him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was wondering...how much would I remember? Or if I would forget?"

She considered, then rested her head back on his shoulder.

"It's hard to say," she said, thoughtfully. "When a human dies, the shock of their death buries their memories. Usually they forget everything, but some humans remember a few things. Like a little girl remembering her mother is supposed to pick her up. She may not remember her name or her mother's face, but she may remember that she was going to cram school and that her mother was the one who takes her."

"And when you name them, they forget?"

"The name seals it away," Veena said, quietly. "I don't know how it works when a shinki is released, and then remembers."

She traced idle circles against his collar, thoughtfully.

"There's a chance you would remember everything. Or there's the possibility you'd remember something happened between us, but you wouldn't remember what."

"Would you tell me if that's the case?" Kazuma asked.

"I suppose it would depend. If you had your memories of what's happening now, I probably would. But if you only remembered up until the day you were released-"

"-it could trigger a God's Greatest Secret and shatter my name."

"Yes," Veena said, quietly. Kazuma looked at her, worried.

"So if I'm named...you would keep this a secret?" he asked. The thought of it made his chest ache. She smiled and hugged him reassuringly.

"Don't worry," she said, and she smiled against his jaw. "I have no qualms about re-seducing you."

"What?" Kazuma laughed. She smiled and hitched him closer.

There was a warm silence. For the first time since his release, he felt real and solid. His body made an indentation against the futon, something he would have thought impossible just a few hours ago, and as he shifted he watched the covers wrinkle and stretch with his movements. It was almost as if her life force were once again tethering him, anchoring him to the Near Shore and giving him shape and form.

Now she was asleep, and as she breathed softly Kazuma looked up into the darkness, thinking about the nature of names and the sorcerer's power, and what it was that shattered Tsuguha.


	23. An observation

.

.

Daikoku was fixing breakfast when Yato glanced behind him.

"Yo Kazuma," Yato said, as Kazuma walked down the stairs. "You guys finally feeling better?"

"They better be feelin' better, the way they were shakin' the house," Daikoku said.

Kazuma blanched. "Wh-what?"

"Ha ha! Cut him some slack, Daikoku! That's like, a thousand years of pent-up frustration!"

"Y-Yato, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Yatogami. Stop harassing my exemplar." Bishamon floated down the stairs, dressed for work and smiling broadly.

"If you see Nana, tell her I'm on my way out."


	24. Names

.

.

"So your name is Ryuunosuke, huh?" Yato said. "I was wonderin' why that stupid skank didn't just rename ya."

He was sitting cross-legged in the guestroom, watching as Kazuma made him a pot of tea. Bishamon had somehow found his glasses, and he wasn't wearing that kimono anymore. It was surprising - just the night before, Kazuma's form was so unstable he could barely keep from fading. But now he was perfectly solid, able to touch things in the Near Shore as if he were still a shinki or human.

"It is slightly more complicated than that," Kazuma said. He poured them tea and brought it out on a tray, setting it in the table in front of them. "We're both concerned that I'd lose not only my memories of my time as a human, but also the memories I have as a spirit."

"So?" Yato said. "All ya did was hang around the temple. Not that big a loss if you ask me."

"As I said, Yato...it is slightly more complicated than that."

Kazuma kept his eyes lowered. Yato set down the cup.

"Wait," Yato said. "Did you two-"

Kazuma blushed, not looking at him.

"Holy crap, Kazuma!" Yato said. "I thought Daikoku was just givin' ya shit, but-"

"Please," Kazuma said, reddening. "Can we not discuss that?"

"Ha ha! Kazuma!' Yato said. "What, you afraid the skank'll change her mind or something?" Yato grinned at him, fingering the cup. "Look, you're freaking out over nothing. I mean, yeah, it'd be real easy to hide it from ya, but even I don't think the skank'll do that."

"No," Kazuma said. He stared at his tea. "She wouldn't. Not unless it were absolutely necessary."

He seemed gloomy again. Yato frowned.

"So, how'd you die, anyway?" Yato drank from the cup. "Robbers? From the looks of things you got beat up."

"They weren't robbers," Kazuma said. "Villagers who blamed me for an ayakashi's storm."

"Whoa, seriously?"

Kazuma nodded. "As it turns out, Iki Hiyori and her family aren't the only ones who could see us. When I was alive, I could see shinki and phantoms as well."

"No kidding," Yato said. Kazuma nodded again.

"I met Veena when I was human, taking refuge in her shrine."

Yato set down his cup. "You knew the skank when you were human?!" Yato said.

"I did." Kazuma's voice was soft. "We had a relationship very much like yours with Iki Hiyori."

"Wow," Yato said. He rubbed his neck, frowning.

"Well Kazuma, I mean, ya gotta get renamed," Yato said. "You might be solid for now, but if you spend too much time away from her, your body'll start fading again."

"I know." Kazuma stared at his cup. "We haven't decided what we want to do."

He poured Yato another cup, then set the pot down carefully.

"In any case, Yato," Kazuma began. "I think for now it'd be safest if you just keep calling me 'Kazuma' for now. I wouldn't want Yukine-kun or Daikoku-san to be affected by my name."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Yato said, and he took a drink of his tea. "What about Nana? It's gotta be hard keepin' things under wraps for her, too."

"Nana isn't as affected," Kazuma said. "She has no interest in knowing her name and she already knows the way she died, too."

"Tough kid," Yato said, and he nodded in approval.

Truth was, Yato really liked Nana. She was scrappy and she was fast, and she was Yukine's first shinki friend since Suzuha. He liked that she always seemed to look out for them, even if Nana loudly proclaimed that they were both too stupid to live, and what the hell, somebody had to.

Nana had started sleeping with Yato and Yukine in the attic. It wasn't that Bishamon forced her to - originally, Kazuma was going to stay in the attic while Nana and Bishamon stayed in the guestroom, but Yukine kept staring daggers at him and Kazuma was afraid he'd sting him. "I can always go back to Iki Hiyori's," Kazuma said, quietly.

Of course, the skank wasn't having that, and Nana inexplicably volunteered to stay in the attic. She was a good kid, and even though Bishamon insisted that she stay with her and Kazuma, she didn't mind a little hardship. "As long as it's not in that box, I don't really care," Nana said. And she pulled a futon next to Yukine and promptly fell asleep.

For the most part, Kazuma and Yukine avoided each other enough so that there was a modicum of peace in the house. Yato understood why Yukine was still pissed, but he was starting to wonder if it was affecting the small chip in his name. "I'm worried about Yukine," Yato said.

Kazuma looked up. "What's wrong?"

"He's been actin' weird." Yato crossed his arms, frowning at the cup. "I mean, yeah, I get that he's still kinda pissed off at you, but I think there's something more than that. Remember when my dad fought you guys at the school?"

Kazuma nodded. Yato continued. "Well, Nora struck Yukine too. His name didn't break, though," Yato said. "It just left a small chip at the top of his name."

"Do you feel as if that chip is widening?" Kazuma said. Yato shook his head.

"I don't know," Yato said. "I mean, he's a teenager. But Yukine hasn't stung me since the ablution."

"Wait, has Yukine-kun been stinging you?!"

"No, nothing like that." Yato shook his head. "Something just feels...off. Like the pressure is building up behind the seal of his name."

"Yato," Kazuma said. "The way Yukine died...was it something bad?" Yato nodded, gravely.

"Let's just say, you weren't the only one who got the shit beat out of you," Yato said.

"And I'm not the only one with a shitty dad."


	25. Names, part 2

.

.

"Hey, Bishamon."

"What is it, Yatogami?"

"Is it true that you and Kazuma were like me and Hiyori?"

Bishamon set down her papers. "It is," she said. Yato paced and fidgeted, playing with his sleeves.

"Was it...weird? Naming him as a shinki?"

"It was, at first," Bishamon said. "At first I had to keep my distance. But eventually I started seeing him as 'Kazuma,' instead of Ryuunosuke."

"If Hiyori...I mean. If she were to die...none of us can name her, right?" Yato's blue eyes flicked upward, searching hers. "Because what if Yukine called her by her real name? Or what if we had to explain to them why we couldn't talk about her past? I mean, how do you get around that? Telling them you can't call Hiyori by her human name, or she'll turn into a phantom... And Hiyori is human. Someday she's going to _die_ -"

"Yatogami," Bishamon said, and Yato glanced upwards. She smiled kindly.

"If I could do it over again, I would rather that my Kazuma lived a long life, instead of becoming my shinki," Bishamon said. Yato sat on the couch in front of her.

"Even if you never saw him again?"

Bishamon considered.

"My old guide, the old cleric of the Ma clan, told me once that the humans we love deserve a happy life, and that gods who meddle only cause pain and calamity."

"Did she know who Kazuma was when you named him?" Yato asked. Bishamon shook her head.

"No," Bishamon said. "Fortunately for me, the old cleric never met him."

"Lucky," Yato said. Bishamon spread her hands.


	26. A Crack

.

.

 _A hand._

 _A boot._ ("Yukine.")

 _A pile of letters._

 _A foot stepping on all of them._ ("Oi, Yukine!")

 _The postmark that says, RETURN TO SENDER._

"YUKINE!"

Yukine's eyes opened. Yato was crouching beside him, shaking him on the shoulder.

" _What?_ " Yukine said. He glared and swatted back Yato's hand.

Yato rocked back on his haunches, staring at him. "You having another nightmare?"

"I wasn't having a nightmare, stop being creepy," Yukine said.

"Don't lie," Yato said. He tapped the back of his neck, showing him. "I can feel it when you do."

"Friggin shitty jersey," Yukine muttered, and he flopped back down. Beside them, Nana turned, pulling up her bedsheets. Yato crossed his arms.

Yukine bristled. "Now what?"

"I'm gonna wake you up when you have another nightmare," Yato said.

"Ugh! Why you gotta be so creepy!"

"It ain't creepy, Yukine! I'm just concerned! _Concerned_."

"You're being loud, will you guys shut up?" Nana said.

After all that, Yukine couldn't sleep. He walked down the steps of the attic, then stopped at seeing Kazuma-san and Bishamon standing around the kitchen. Yukine bristled silently. Downstairs, Kazuma caught his eye and offered him an apologetic smile.

Whatever. Yukine shoved his hands in his pockets and walked past them.

"Good morning, young Yukine," Bishamon said, kindly.

"Good morning, Bishamon-sama. Daikoku-san." He didn't say good morning to Kazuma.

"Oi, Yukine. I'm gonna need your help at the store," Daikoku said.

" _Hai_ ," Yukine said, and he started picking at his breakfast. The others began to eat while Kazuma hovered uncertainly above them.

 _Why does he have to be here?_ Yukine thought, crossly. He glanced at Kazuma quickly, before turning back to his bowl.

At the very least, Kazuma-san was back to wearing his glasses and normal clothes, not looking like some freaky ghost from a horror movie. _Maybe Bishamon-sama renamed him_ , Yukine thought. He poked around with his chopsticks and cast a furtive glance at Kazuma-san's hand.

No mark. Maybe it was somewhere else?

"Bisha! Kazu-chan! Yuki! Did you all have a good morning?" Kofuku skipped down the stairs and hugged Daikoku around the waist.

"Mm." Daikoku nodded, stirring the pot. "We're s'posed to get lotsa tourists today so Yukine and I are gonna mind the store."

"Hehe. If there's lotsa tourists, is it okay if I kinda sorta scam them?" Kofuku batted her eyelashes. Daikoku swatted her hand.

"When there's tourists there's lotsa kids, so keep your aura in check already!"

"You're no fun, Daikoku~~"

Kazuma-san was watching them, smiling a little bit. Yukine's eyes narrowed.

"What? So you think ripping off kids is funny?" Yukine said. Kazuma blinked, surprised. Bishamon glanced at Daikoku.

"Ah, no," Kazuma said. Kofuku clapped him on the shoulder.

"Scamming little kids is _super_ funny~~" Kofuku said. "'Cuz they don't know what hit 'em, they look so confused with their tiny baby eyes and their tiny widdle faces, it just makes me wanna make 'em _cry_ -"

"Dammit, Kofuku!" Daikoku said, and Yukine looked back at his bowl.

The day was warm. Daikoku set up a little electric fan and a pail of ice, which blew cold air into the stand. Yukine spent the morning rearranging signs and straightening out the merchandise while Nana sat on the floor next to them, writing on the chalkboard.

"Whoa, Nana-chan. Your handwritin's getting really good," Daikoku said. "Did Hiyori-chan teach you that?"

"Yeah." Nana wrote carefully, copying the letters. "Yukine helps me with my homework."

"Well ain't that something! Remind me later to let ya pick out a prize."

"Prize?" Nana's head shot up. Yukine grinned.

"Yeah, Daikoku-san lets us pick what we want from the ice cream bin," Yukine said.

"Well it's not that busy and it's hot now, if you two want, you can pick something now," Daikoku said.

"Thanks, Daikoku-san!"

"Thank you very much Daikoku-san."

Yukine motioned to Nana and started digging around the ice cream bin.

They sat on the steps of the store, eating ice cream beneath the flags that said SWEET SAKE and PIPING HOT UDON. Yukine dug his toe in the dirt while Nana munched on her ice cream thoughtfully, licking the creamy treat and peeling back the wrapper.

"Hey, Nana?"

"Yeah?"

"You ever get nightmares?" Yukine sucked on his popsicle, glancing up at her. Nana shook her head.

"It's weird," Yukine said, looking out in front of him. "I've been having these weird dreams lately. Like, just flashes of images and stuff."

"Maybe you're dreaming about how you died."

Yukine glanced back at Nana. She licked her ice cream dripping around her hand.

"Died?" Yukine said. "I don't remember how I died. Do you remember how you died?"

"Yeah." Nana licked the wrapper. "I died fighting," Nana said. She grinned up at him. "It was freaking _cool_."

"Oh," Yukine said, but something she said unsettled him. He twirled his popsicle, thinking a bit. "I wonder what dying has to do with letters."

"Letters?"

"Yeah." Yukine stared at his popsicle. "I keep dreaming about writing all these letters."

How _did_ he die? Yukine wondered why he never thought about it before. If he concentrated enough, he could remember the contents of his dreams. Letters. A pair of luggage. A woman and a girl, looking at him. A hand wrapped in bandages, lying palm-up in shallow water...

Yukine stood up, gasping. Somehow he couldn't breathe.

"Yukine?" Nana's eyes were wide. "Hey, you okay?"

"What's wrong?" Daikoku threw down his dish cloth and rushed around the counter.

"I- nothing. It's just a little brain freeze," Yukine said. Daikoku clapped him on the back.

"You're lookin' kinda pale."

"I'm fine," Yukine said. "I don't know what I was thinking, I just ate that popsicle too fast."

"Maybe we should get ya inside," Daikoku said. "Sit in the office with the air conditioning, yeah?" He helped Yukine up, gripping him on the shoulder.

"YUKINE!" Yato ran down the steps. "Yukine! Are you all right, Yukine?!"

"Ugh, Yato! I'm fine!" Yukine said. Yato's face was pale.

"Yukine. Did something happen, Yukine?" Yato's eyes were wide. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple.

"You shitty jersey, I told you I'm fine," Yukine said.

"The heat's just getting to him. I'm taking him inside where there's air conditioning," Daikoku said.

"Is Kazuma-san there?" Yukine said.

"Tch. It doesn't matter," Daikoku said, irritated.

"I don't want to be in the office if Kazuma-san is there!" Yukine said.

"Oi, brat!" Daikoku said. "I don't care if it's the fuckin' Queen of England in there, you're marching your ass where there's air conditioning, ya got that?"

"Hey, Yukine. Maybe you and I can go somewhere," Yato said. Yukine glared.

"I don't _need_ to go somewhere, why's everyone treating me like a kid?!"

 _Because you are a kid_ , a voice in his head said. A voice that sounded like Nora; he felt a throbbing ache in the mark of his name.

Yato stepped forward. "Yukine-"

"Dammit, Yato! I told you I'm fine!"

"Yeah, I know, but-"

There was a jingle above the door.

"Hello?" the customer said. "Hello, is someone here?"

"I'll take care of it," Daikoku said, and he pulled back on his apron. Yato grabbed Yukine by the arm.

"O-oi!"

"Is your mark hurting?" Yato said.

"Huh?" Yukine said.

"Your name," Yato said, and he yanked back the collar of Yukine's shirt. "Is it hurting?"

"I...I dunno. Maybe." Yukine blinked, then shook his head. Yato looked at him, worried.

"Listen, Yukine," Yato said. "I wasn't gonna say anything earlier, but remember when Dad fought us at the school? You got hit by Nora, remember?"

"Yeah," Yukine said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I think Nora does something to fuck up your name."

"What?" Yukine blinked, looking at him.

"She messes with your mind," Yato said. "She gets in your head, makes you more irritable. More labile. Makes it so you're liable to sting your master, do you understand?"

"Her power...makes other shinki sting their masters?" Yukine's eyes widened. "Is that why Tsuguha turned into an ayakashi?" Yato nodded, gravely.

"It is. And that's why you gotta tell me. If something feels off or you're getting emotional, I need to know, Yukine." Yato gripped Yukine by the shoulders.

Yukine nodded. "Okay, Yato."

They walked back out to the storefront, where Daikoku and Nana were still talking to the customer.

"Sorry, but I don't know anyone by the name of 'Ryuunosuke' here," Daikoku was saying. Behind him, Yato stopped.

Yukine glanced behind him. "Yato?"

The customer smiled apologetically, pulling out something from his hand.

"He left a note saying that he was staying here," the customer said.

"Sorry. There's nobody by that name here," Daikoku said.

"C'mon, Yukine," Yato said in a low voice. "Let's go." And he took Yukine by the arm.

"Oh! Yato! Yukine!" the customer said.

" _Shit_ ," Yato said.

"Sera-san?" Yukine said. Yato grabbed his arm.

"Yeah, it's Hiyori's stupid brother, let's go, Yukine, come _on_."

"Hey, Yato! This guy doesn't think Ryuunosuke's here. Have you seen him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sera," Yato said, loudly. Yukine glanced at Daikoku.

"Oh! I get it! It's cuz I'm not supposed to know you're a god." Sera smiled, broadly. "Don't worry, you guys! I'm Hiyori's older brother! I know all about God Vessels and phantoms and stuff. I'm just looking for my friend-"

"I _told ya_ Sera, there's no one by that name here! Will you just get outta here?"

"He's Bishamonten's old hafuri," Sera said. "That's the term, right? Bishamonten's blessed vessel?"

"Uh, you mean Kazuma-san?" Daikoku said. "He's sitting in the back. But his name's not Ryuunosuke."

"I don't know a Kazuma-san, but this guy was definitely Bishamonten's hafuri," Sera said.

"DAMMIT, Sera!" Yato said. The door to the store room opened.

"Daikoku-san?" Kazuma stepped outside. "I heard voices, is everything alright?"

Kazuma's eyes widened.

Sera waved. "Yo! Ryuunosuke!" Sera said. "I was getting worried - none of these guys seemed to know you were here."

"Iki-san," Kazuma said. "W-what are you doing here?" Daikoku's eyes narrowed.

"Kazuma," Daikoku said, slowly. "Why'd ya tell him your name was Ryuunosuke?"

Kazuma fidgeted. "I, uh. That is to say, um..."

"Because it's Edo-san's real name," Sera said, confused. "What, you guys didn't know?"

 _Real name. Real name._ The crack in Yukine's name was widening. Yato glanced up at Daikoku, who was starting to get affected, too. If Yato didn't do something, their memories would break through the seal and start to spill over.

"Yeah, it's Kazuma's real name," Yato said, and he let his eyes narrow.

"That's because I named him."

"What?!" Yukine said. Yato crossed his arms and glared.

"Sorry, Yukine," Yato said. "But Kazuma was fading. I had to give him a name to stabilize him."

"What the _shit_ , Yato?" Yukine said. "You knew how I felt about Kazuma-san and you didn't even have the decency to tell me?!"

"Oh boy," Daikoku breathed. Yukine walked angrily around the counter.

All at once the rising flood of their memories had stopped; Yukine's name remained intact. Daikoku's life force simmered back to a quiet lull.

"Don't be like that, Yukine," Yato said. "I would've given him a clan name if I was gonna keep him-"

"Did you think I wouldn't get it? That I wouldn't understand? I'm supposed to be your guide, how can you not trust me?"

"I told ya, Yukine! Nora's power makes you more emotionally unstable! I didn't want to make things worse!"

"You piece of shit, Yato! You were just looking out for yourself!"

"It isn't like that, Yukine," Yato said.

"Whatever. I don't care."

"Oi, Yukine," Yato said, but Yukine kept walking. " _Yukine!_ "

But Yukine stormed out of the shop, slamming the door.


	27. Ryuu

.

.

Yukine walked angrily toward Suzuha's tree, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and trying to control himself. He was pissed but he didn't want to sting Yato. "What the fuck," Yukine said to himself. "I'm right to be angry! I'm not gonna sting Yato!" And as he walked toward the cherry tree, the events of that day - the day Kazuma betrayed them - kept playing over and over again in his mind.

Yukine was doing laundry when Kazuma had shown up unexpectedly. "Hey, Yukine," Yato said. "Kazuma says he's got some business with you."

"With me?" Yukine said. He set down his basket of laundry and jogged toward them. Kazuma smiled.

"Erm, Yukine. Could we go for a bit of a walk?" Kazuma asked. He pointed toward the sun-dappled path leading down the clearing in the woods. Yato snorted.

"What, am I some sort of third wheel or something?" Yato said. "Ah, whatever! Just don't do anything too weird to my kid, you hentai hafuri!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," Kazuma said. Yukine grinned and trotted after him.

The day was warm, and streaks of sunlight filtered through the treetops. They walked across a wooden bridge spanning the width of a stream that wound its way through the forest clearing. Yukine liked it when Kazuma-san visited him - other than Yato, Kazuma was the only other person from the Far Shore who took interest in him. "You need to take more pride in yourself - your talents as a shinki are exceptional," Kazuma told him once, and Yukine had spent the rest of the day flushed with unexpected pride.

But now Kazuma walked with an uncharacteristic quickness in his gait; there was a tenseness in his shoulders and a tightness around his jaw that Yukine found worrisome.

"Kazuma-san, what's wrong?" Yukine said, finally. "You're acting strange. There's even blood on your cuff," Yukine said, noticing it for the first time. There was a change in Kazuma's demeanor that Yukine couldn't quite understand. "Did something happen? If you want, I can help you," Yukine said. Kazuma stopped, then turned.

"I never taught you this one. But when there comes a time that you absolutely must get an answer from someone..."

"Eh?" Yukine said.

"Speak, Yukine!" Kazuma said. He lifted his fingers into a halberd.

" _Resound_!"

And the shockwave of Kazuma's spell slammed into him, violently tearing open his throat.

He was supposed to be his mentor, he was supposed to care about him! He was supposed to show him right from wrong, _he was supposed to lead him!_

And what about Yato?

Yato, who trusted Kazuma above all others, because Kazuma regarded him as his benefactor and because Kazuma was Yato's only friend. How could he betray him?

 _How could he hunt the sorcerer knowing that it could kill Yato?!_

"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" Yukine said. He threw a line and the spell shattered.

They fought. At the time, Yukine didn't think twice, didn't blink as Kazuma darted forward, throwing lines at him, lines that were stronger and sharper than anything thrown by Kugaha. Yukine ducked and countered but Kazuma was faster, attacking him with unimaginable speed...

And then he felt it: two fingers on the pulse by his jugular. Two green eyes staring at him, threateningly.

 _I could kill you if I wanted to._

And that day, Yukine realized that Kazuma would kill him without qualm, without hesitation. Would tear down Yato and betray his only benefactor.

"FUCK!" Yukine said, and he kicked the trunk of Suzuha's tree, remembering. It pissed him off that despite all of this, Yato wouldn't listen to him. "Kazuma-san betrayed you! He doesn't deserve to be your friend!" Above him, the branches of the cherry tree swayed quietly.

How could Yato bestow a name on him? Yukine hunched against the tree trunk, miserably. Was Yato fucking stupid? Or did Yato just not trust him?

"Ya done?" someone said, and Yukine glanced upward to see Yato standing across from him.

"What do you want?" Yukine said. Yato shrugged.

"Just waitin' to see if you're done freaking out already."

"Shut up," Yukine said. He hugged his legs to his chest and glared at the ground, hunching over.

Yato didn't say anything. Slowly, he squatted next to Yukine, leaning his back against the trunk of the cherry tree and sitting next to him. Around them, the cicadas sang quietly. The sky was blue. The grass swayed lightly in the warm afternoon air.

"Why did you have to name him?" Yukine said. Yato looked over toward him, a question in his blue eyes. "I mean, I get it. Kazuma-san was fading and you've already forgiven him. But don't you realize, Yato, that Kazuma-san tried to kill me?"

"What?" Yato said. Yukine looked up at him and glared.

"He tried to kill me with a borderline," Yukine said. Yato blinked. Yukine sat up, leaning toward him. "After he used that spell on me I attacked, trying to defend myself. Kazuma-san fought back and he was stronger than me. He beat me, and then he tapped his fingers against my neck."

Yukine rubbed the side of his neck, remembering. The look in Kazuma's eyes. The barely coiled power simmering beneath his fingers.

"He gave me a scary look. Like, 'I could kill you if I wanted to.' And then he let me go."

For once, Yato seemed troubled. "He did that?" Yato said. Yukine shrugged, staring at the ground.

"I told you," Yukine said. "Kazuma-san is the enemy." He hunched back over his knees, glaring. "Kazuma-san betrayed you and then he tried to kill me. And then you had to go and give him a name!"

"Wait, Yukine-" Yato said.

"No, Yato, listen to me!" Yukine said. "I don't care if he apologized at the ablution. _Kazuma-san could have killed me_. And you act as if you don't fucking care!"

"Yukine! You know that's not true, Yukine-"

"What would you have done, if Kazuma-san did it?" Yukine said. "If Kazuma-san killed me that day. Would you still have forgiven him after the ablution?"

"He didn't, though," Yato said. Yukine smacked his hand on the ground.

"Dammit, Yato-"

"He didn't," Yato said. He moved to look at Yukine directly, gripping his hands over Yukine's shoulders.

"Listen to me, Yukine," Yato said. "You don't know how long I've been a god. I've seen humans do horrible things to protect each other. But the thing is, Yukine. It's in a god's nature to forgive."

Yukine stared at him, looking at him as if he had been blighted. Tears filled his eyes and threatened to spill over.

"Yeah," Yukine said, angrily. "Except I'm not a god, Yato. And if Kazuma-san killed you I would fucking take his head."

Yato frowned, blinking slowly. The whole thing seemed to trouble him.

"You want me to go talk to him, Yukine?"

" _No_ ," Yukine spat. "I want you to kick his ass."

"Huh." Yato rubbed the side of his neck, frowning.

"I didn't realize how much Kazuma had hurt you," Yato said, finally. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want your apology, Yato! I want you to keep your distance from him!"

"I can protect myself," Yato said. "But I'm sorry I let him hurt my kid."

Yukine looked up. Yato looked at him apologetically.

"Shit," Yukine said, and he yanked a tuft of grass and threw it on the ground. "Whatever. It's not like I really care."

There was a stick on the ground, which Yukine picked up idly and began scratching into the dirt. The grass was thinning around the roots of the tree where Yukine was sitting, and as he dragged the stick forward he realized he was writing the character for Dragon: 龍, Ryuu.

"Why'd you name him 'Ryuu,' anyway?" Yukine said, crossly. "You named me after a stupid puff of snow, and you go and give Kazuma-san a name like 'Dragon'?"

"What, you jealous or something?" Yato said, sitting next to him. Yukine shrugged, drawing the character. "Y'know, they say the weapon-form of a shinki often matches his name," Yato said, thoughtfully. "I ain't got much use for a nail or a stupid earring."

"So you named him 'Dragon' thinking he'd be something cool?"

"Heh. What if I told ya 'Longki' was just a sandal?"

"Kazuma-san is a pair of sandals?"

"Not a pair, Yukine. Just one stupid sandal."

Yukine choked back a startled laugh. Suddenly he had the image of Yato naming him, and Kazuma zapping into one perfect sandal, forming around Yato's foot. _"What the heck, Kazuma?! You were one stupid earring and now you're one stupid sandal, too?!"_

"That's actually pretty funny," Yukine said. He scratched out the name with the stick, smiling. Yato smiled.

"Oi, c'mon, Yukine," Yato said, rising. "Let's head back. Everyone is worried about you."

Yukine tossed the stick on the ground and stood.

"Hey, Yato?"

"Yeah?"

"What can you do with a single sandal?"

They were crossing the bridge, heading toward the road.

"Eh. Maybe if there's a phantom I could chuck it at 'em."

"Heh."

"I could also use it to kill bugs, Yukine! There's lotsa things you can do with a stupid shoe."


	28. Kid, part 1

_Author's note:_ _Warnings for child abuse and domestic violence. Elements of this backstory taken from chapter 1 of the manga, Oyasumi Punpun.  
_

* * *

.

"Hey kid. Come here."

The kid trotted forward. His dad smiled at him and patted his hair.

"Look what I got," his dad said. He pulled out a large cardboard box from a paperbag. "See this? I won it playing sl- er, I got it from a friend," he said, and the kid's eyes widened when he saw it: a deluxe edition telescope, a picture of galaxies and stars decorating the box. "Let's set it up," his dad said. "That way when you look outside, you'll be closer to the stars."

The kid grabbed the box and ran upstairs to his room, throwing open his bedroom window and tossing the box on the bed. Giddily he tore back the plastic wrapper and pulled open the cardboard flaps, pulling out the telescope, which still needed to be assembled. Downstairs, he could hear his mom and dad talking.

" _Why won't you tell me where you were?_ " His mother's voice drifting up from the floorboards of his room. Loud footsteps stomping. His father's voice rising.

" _I got a nice thing for my son, and you're fucking giving me grief?_ "

" _You were gambling again, weren't you?_ "

A smack. The kid jumped a little and clutched the telescope to his chest.

" _You fucking bitch!_ " Another loud thump. The sound of his mom crying. " _Look at what you made me do!_ "

Angry footsteps heading up the stairs.

The kid jumped up and set the box back on the bed, throwing back comforters and the papers to his instruction manual, making room. The door pushed open, his dad coming in holding a can of beer.

"How about we get this set up. Hmm?"

xXx

.

Someday, the kid would be an astronaut.

He looked through his telescope. Tiny stars dotted the sky like fireflies, but he could name all the constellations. Gemini. Cancer. Orion. He loved the night sky best. He loved its quiet, its tranquil stillness. He loved the sound of people sleeping and the chirps of insects outside his room.

His dad was drunk again, passed out on the sofa with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Carefully, the kid plucked the cigarette from his lips and stuck it in a glass, just like he's seen his dad; his dad smelled like smoke and beer and had the aura of a sleeping animal, and the kid was careful to keep from waking him. His dad sometimes hit his mom but he never hit him; he and his sister never got on his nerves the way his mom did. "Why can't mom just learn to be quiet?" the kid said.

His sister looked up from underneath the blankets. She had a made a blanket fort beside her bed, and the kid had crawled beside her, wondering.

"Because dad is an abusive asshole," his sister said. His sister was old - almost thirteen - and to the kid, she seemed to know all the secrets of the world. He'd seen her smoke cigarettes with the high schoolers on the street corners. His sister was scary and smart and knew what to do to keep from pissing off dad.

"But dad is nice to me," the kid said quietly. His sister ignored him, pulling out her maps of America she kept stashed in the corner.

"Someday, little brother, I'm going to go to America." She unrolled the maps, showing him. "Hollywood. That's in California. I'm going to learn English and go to university there."

"They have a university in Hollywood?" the kid asked. His sister shook her head.

"No, dummy, but they have a school in California, and they have talent agents there."

"Where is NASA?" the kid asked, and his sister pointed.

"It's in Texas," she said, and she tapped her finger in the map. "Houston," she said. "They have all the best astronauts gathering there."

The kid looked at the map, tracing it with his fingers reverently. _Houston_ , he thought, and he thought of rocket ships and American movies, of the spiraling of stars and galaxies above him. _Texas. America_.

xXx

.

His mother was crying again, crouching on her knees to pick up the scattered shards of broken dishes lying on the floor.

"Hey kid. Come here," his dad said, and the kid glanced at his mom once before trotting forward. His dad smelled like beer and cigarettes and stale, bad breath, but his hand was big and warm when it settled on the top of the kid's head. "Lemme tell you something about bitches, kid," his dad said. "You can never trust 'em."

The kid nodded, wide-eyed.

His dad could be mean sometimes, but he still loved his dad. He loved his dad when he ruffled his hair and bragged to the other people in the bar how he had a _good_ kid, how his kid was fucking spectacular. He was a _fucking amazing_ kid, okay? and heaven help anybody who disagreed with him.

His dad, unfortunately, did not feel the same way about his sister.

"You fucking _whore_ ," his dad said, scarily sober and slamming one closed fist into a box of kleenex. The kid jumped, startled, but his sister didn't bat an eye. "The fuck are you doing whoring it up like your mother?"

His sister stared at him stonily. The lipstick she had put on smeared obscenely on her cheek.

"Dad," the kid said, since he loved his sister as much as his father and he didn't want her to get yelled at too. "Dad. Nee-chan didn't mean it-"

"You fucking shut up, kid," his dad said. "Go to your room."

The kid ran. He could hear the beating behind his closed door.

xXx

.

"You know," his dad said one day. They were sitting in the park, sharing an ice cream. "You know. I'm not a good man. But there's only so much that I can do."

The kid licked his ice cream. His dad was sitting, backed hunched and his eyes were bloodshot and watery. "Kid," his dad said. "I think you're the only good thing that's come out from this washed up old man." And the kid thought to himself how much he loved his dad, how he was glad he could be with him. How his mom and his sister were wrong, they just didn't know how to treat him.

When his parents divorced, the kid begged the judge to let him stay with him. "I want to live with my dad!" the kid said. His mother begged and pleaded but his sister just shook her head at him.

"You are fucking stupid," his sister hissed. His mother gently clasped her hand.

xXx

.

 _Hollywood._

 _California._

 _Houston._

 _Texas._

 _America_.

He recited the places like a prayer.

"FUCK," his dad said. He was drunk again, and the kid was running around the kitchen, trying his best to clean up after him. "You fucking piece of shit, you think it's easy having another fucking mouth to feed? Why the fuck didn't you stay with your mother?"

The kid didn't say anything. This wasn't his dad. His dad joked and laughed and ruffled his hair, it wasn't his dad that beat him. It wasn't his dad that smashed his airplane models with his fists, or threw his telescope against the wall.

xXx

.

They were walking in the store when his dad glanced around, then palmed a package of wagyu beef in his hand.

"Stick it in your shirt," his dad said.

"What?" the kid said.

"I said stick it in your shirt," his dad said.

The kid glanced up, wide eyes trusting him.

The kid learned to steal as easily as he could breathe. "That's my kid!" his dad said, whenever he stole another slab of meat or bottle of beer. The kid flushed happily. He liked it when his dad praised him.

When he got caught by the store, ten months later, his dad screamed and shouted and publicly berated him.

"You fucking piece of shit!" his dad said, and yanked him hard by the arm. "What the fuck do you think you were doing, stealing this shit?!"

"I did it for you!" the kid cried, and his dad looked up at the cops and laughed nervously.

"He's always making shit up, ever since he left his mother."

The kid bowed his head and stared at his hands.

xXx

.

Suddenly, the kid was never good enough for him.

"Why the fuck you gotta be here?" his dad said, when he brought home another lady from the bar. The kid's eyes flashed when he answered,

"Why the fuck you gotta beat on mom?"

A smack. The kid pitched backward, spinning from the force of it. His dad's piggy eyes stared angrily at him.

He learned to make himself scarce. Standing on the street corners, just like his sister did. Walking in the park after dark to look at the stars, just to keep from coming home.

His dad never hit him in places where others could see the scars.


	29. English

.

.

"Yukine," Kazuma said. He was standing at the top of the stairs to the attic. "Can we talk?"

Yukine bristled. He had a stack of homework he needed to review before Hiyori came over, but grudgingly he pushed back his papers. Quietly, Kazuma crossed over to sit next across from him, his hands on his knees and trying to find his words.

"Yato talked to me." Kazuma's eyes flicked upwards. "It seems he isn't very happy with how I treated you."

Yukine glared at his papers. There was math, which he was good at (and so was Yato, who helped him with the more difficult problem sets given to him by Hiyori) and a stack of English homework that he was busy neglecting.

"I'm not happy with the way I treated you either, Yukine. If that is worth anything."

"It's not worth shit," Yukine said. Kazuma winced, then stared at his hands.

"I know this won't mean much, coming from me," Kazuma said. "But I made a lot of terrible mistakes and I'm worried you're going down the same path."

Yukine stood up. The window in the attic was smudged and Yukine decided looking at the hand prints on the glass was infinitely better than looking at Kazuma-san.

"You know, Nana thinks you're shit since you regret protecting your master." Yukine looked out the window.

"Well. She _is_ the Renegade Hafuri," Kazuma said. Yukine turned.

"I think you're shit too, because you fucking tried to kill me and then you threatened Yato."

"I know," Kazuma said. Yukine's eyes narrowed.

"I get it," Yukine said. "You're Yato's shinki now. He's your master, you're beholden to him. But if you so much as blight him, or sting him, or make his neck start to prickle. I swear to god, Kazuma-san. I will fucking end you."

Kazuma lowered his eyes, then glanced at the English homework lying on the table.

"You know, I could help you with this," Kazuma said. He picked up the stack of homework and flipped through the pages, carefully. "One of the effects of living a long life is picking up a lot of different languages."

"Fuck off, Kazuma-san."

"Did you know, Yukine, that 'fakku' is pronounced 'fuck' in English?"

Yukine stared at him. "I don't give a shit, you're not my mentor."

"You could also tell me to 'shove it up my ass.'" He said the phrase in English, flipping through the pages carefully. "Believe it or not, Yukine, I know more English curse words than Yato."

Yukine yanked the workbook out of Kazuma's hands and threw it back on the table.

"I trusted you!" Yukine said, angrily. "But I was a fucking moron, I thought you were my friend!"

"I know," Kazuma said, softly. Yukine swiped back at his eyes and crossed his arms, glaring. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"How about you fucking die?" Yukine said.

"Well. We both know that would be impossible, since we're both already dead."

"I hate you!" Yukine said. He violently swiped his arm over his homework, the books and the papers clattering on the floor. "You fucking asshole! Get out!"

Kazuma raised his hands. "Yukine-"

"Kazuma-san, you asshole, I said, _get out_!"

"Okay," Kazuma said. He nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry for disturbing you."

The door shut quietly while Yukine breathed hard, staring at the mess of papers he made on the floor.


	30. The A-Team

.

.

Someone was knocking on Kofuku's sliding door.

" _Hai, hai_ ," Daikoku said, and he wiped his hands on his apron and walked toward the sitting room. The knocking continued. "Hold on a sec, I'm comin'-"

He slid the door open to come face-to-face with all of Bishamon's old combat shinki, glancing around nervously and fiddling with their hands.

"Uh," Daikoku said. "Bishamon-sama is at work. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Is Yato-san here?" A small voice chirped from well below him.

"Ebisu-sama?" Daikoku said. The little god poked his head out from behind his shinki. "Uh, yeah. I think that guy's upstairs. Oi, Yato!" Daikoku called. "Ebisu and his shinki are here!"

"Yato-san!" Ebisu said, and his little face broke out into a grin as Yato and Yukine walked toward him. "How are you doing, Yato-san?"

"Ebisu!" Yato laughed and scooped him up. "I'm good! And how about you?"

"I'm doing well, Yato-san!" Ebisu beamed up at him happily. "Unfortunately Yato-san, I'm here on a bit of business. My shinki would like a word with you."

"Your shinki?" Yato glanced up at the group of Bishamon's old shinki hovering behind them. "Why do they wanna talk to me?"

"They heard that you named Kazuma-san," Ebisu said, smiling. Yato blinked and furrowed his brow.

"Uh, Ebisu, about that..."

Ebisu blinked. Yato glanced at the shinki behind him and shifted, uneasily.

"Yato-sama." Kinuha pushed to the front of them, bowing. "We humbly beseech you for an audience. We shinki have heard at Ebisu's that you gave Kazuma-san a new name."

"Uh, well, yeah, but it's not like he works for me." Yato frowned uneasily. "He mostly hangs out with the stupid skank, so..."

"Yato-san, my shinki want you to give them new names," Ebisu said. Yato blinked.

"Eh?"

"Yato-sama. We are combat shinki who have long served by our lady's side. While we are grateful to our new master's hospitality, we feel that our talents are not being properly used," Kinuha said.

"They want to fight again, Yato-san," Ebisu said. He smiled. "They're all good shinki and they get along well with my men. But I can tell they'd be happiest if they could keep fighting phantoms."

"Are they stingin' ya?" Yato said, alarmed. The other shinki looked at each other, nervously. Ebisu shook his head.

"No, Yato-san. But if you'd like to name them I'd be happy to release them to you."

"Uh," Yato said. He glanced at Yukine, who looked at him and shrugged. "Why do you guys want to work with me? Can't ya just ask Bishamon to take you back?"

"Ane-sama released us and refuses to take us. We would return to her gladly if we could."

"Well I can't get back into heaven, and over here there isn't much room," Yato said. Behind him, Daikoku nodded emphatically.

"Yato-sama. We are prepared to sleep in our lady's shrine, or stay in an apartment within our lady's purview."

"You can also keep us in our weapons form, Yato-sama. If that will better suit you."

"Yato-sama. We have worked under Kazuma-san for centuries. If the team reunites we know we can be of use to you."

"Well like I said, I'm not using Kazuma," Yato said, crossing his arms. "My exemplar is Yukine, so if I take you, you'd be working directly under him."

"We would be honored to work under the Yatogami's hafuri," Kuraha said. Kinuha and Aiha nodded, emphatically. "You saved our lady's life, but more than that. Our exemplar trusts you too."

Yato scratched his head and exhaled, loudly.

"Lemme talk with my guide," Yato said. He glanced at Yukine and motioned for him to follow.

"You should name them," Yukine said. Yato stopped surprised.

"Seriously?" Yato said.

"You wanna be a god of fortune, don't you?"

Yato glanced at all of Bishamon's ex-shinki. The young tall one was tugging at his sleeves (Yugiha?) while the bearded one clapped him on the shoulder and spoke to him reassuringly.

"I heard from Kazuma that not all of them are all that good," Yato said. "You'd haveta coordinate them. Kazuma could do it 'cuz he was just a stupid earring, but you're a weapon, Yukine. It might be too much to coordinate everybody and draw your own borderlines, too."

"I can do it, Yato," Yukine said. "No way I'd lose to a stupid shoe."

Yato grinned, then nodded toward them.

"Okay!" Yato said, stepping forward. "Ebisu's gonna release ya and I'll go ahead and give ya new names. But just so you know, there's no vacation and I can't pay ya. And forget about the snazzy uniforms, me and Yukine get our stuff from the thrift shop next door!"

"Yato-sama. You are truly wise god who lives an ascetic life, free from the vices of worldly possessions." The shinki nodded approvingly.

"Little do they know, he's actually just poor," Daikoku said.

xXx

.

Bishamon's combat shinki lined up, standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Oi. You're the chick who tried to scourge me," Yato said to Aiha.

"Forgive me, Yato-sama. I was just trying to protect my Ane-sama."

"Hm," Yato said, and he scratched his chin. "What's your name?"

"Rumi," Aiha said.

"Okay, and what was the name given to you by Bishamon?"

"Aiha," Aiha said. Yato lifted his fingers into a halberd.

" _You, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return, I grant you a place to belong._

 _Thou art Ai. Thy vessel is Ai_ -"

Yato blinked. "Holy crap, Aine, your vessel is the same as your name."

"Ugh, _Yato_ ," Yukine said. "You're supposed to be a god, you're embarrassing me!"

"Heh heh! Sorry Yukine! I don't name shinki all that often."

"Ugh."

"Ahem. " Yato said, and he cleared his throat and pointed.

" _Thou art Ai, thy vessel is Ai._ Come!" Yato said, and he slashed his hand forward. " _AIKI_."

And Aiha zapped into a ray of light, the sky around them illuminating...

A pink glow around Yato's chest, manifesting into ratty white T-shirt and a bedazzled sleeveless jean jacket.

Another pink glow around Yato's ass, which turned into awesome cut-off jean shorts.

Rollerskates with glowing wheels. A red bandana, completing the outfit.

"...the fuck," Yukine said. Yato laughed and skated around him, manically.

"HOLY CRAP, AINE!" Yato said. The other shinki stared. "This looks like my old idol outfit!"

" _W-why am I like this?_ " Even Aiha seemed horrified.

"Because Yato-san is a war god, just like chijou-san," Ebisu chirped. "So your vessel forms will likely be similar when Yato-san gives you your names." Yato skated backwards, grinning.

"Ebisu! Whaddaya think of my divine garment?"

"Yato-san looks super cool!" Ebisu said.

Yukine blanched. The rest of the naming went pretty much as expected.

"Holy crap, Yukine, look at my machete!" Yato said. And then,

"TWIN BAZOOKAS, Yukine! Look at Kazune and Karune!" And then,

"HOLY CRAP IT'S A DRAGON, YUKINE! A FRIGGIN AWESOME _DRAGON_."

"Is...that an iguana?" Daikoku stared as Yato rode on top of the giant lizard, clad in his stupid idol outfit and waving around Yugiha-the-machete.

"It looks like an iguana," Yukine said. And Kuraha flicked his lizard tongue forward.

xXx

.

Kazuma and Bishamon were walking back from the train station. It was witching hour, and Bishamon looked up at the sky wistfully.

"I will say, Ryuunosuke, I do miss our patrol."

"As do I," Kazuma said. Above them, the sky was a brilliant orange, with only a few scattered phantoms hovering around them.

Something exploded. "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What the-" Bishamon and Kazuma glanced up, startled, as Yato burst through the air wearing a sleeveless jean jacket and cutoff shorts, riding on top of a flying iguana and shooting twin bazookas.

Bishamon stared at Kazuma, horrified. He blushed and cleared his throat, pushing up his glasses.

"To be honest, Veena, I think he looks kind of cool."


	31. Navigation

.

.

They cut through the air, a streamlined bullet rocketing forward.

"Okay, Kurane!" Yato said. He patted the iguana on the back. "Take me to some phantoms! Show me what ya got!"

" _Understood, Yato-sama._ "

"WOOOO!" Yato said. Tucked in his waistband, the blades of Sekki glinted.

 _"Yato. Do you even know where you're going?"_ Yukine glanced around Yato's mindscape, completely unused to the crowd of other shinki sharing Yato's consciousness. _"We've been flailing around the city for an hour now, I don't think there's anymore phantoms._ "

 _"Kazuma-san used to be the one to locate the phantoms_ ," Kinuha said. Like with Bishamon, Kinuha was still a whip, albeit with a small ball of spikes at the end. " _Yato-sama. I know that Ryuune is only a shoe-_ "

" _Sandal_ ," Kazuha said.

" _And his name is Ryuunosuke,_ " Karuha said.

" _Well, my point is, Ryuunosuke-san may still have his navigational abilities. Wouldn't it be prudent to call him?_ "

Yato looked into his mindscape. The other shinki nodded in agreement, while in the corner of his mind, Yukine was glaring, crossing his arms.

"Oh man, you guys. You're so used to Kazuma, you have no idea what it's like to work under a _really good_ hafuri."

" _K-Kazuma-san wasn't a good hafuri?"_ Yugiha twisted his shirt in his hands nervously.

"Ha ha! Hell no! That guy was just a stupid earring! Lemme show you what my kid can do!"

Yato turned his voice inward. "Show 'em what you got, Yukine. Let's see if you can find some phantoms."

Yukine opened his mouth to protest, but seemed to think the better of it. He screwed his face and nodded. "Okay, Yato."

 _"But Sekki is a weapon, how is he supposed to navigate?"_ Aiha said. Her voice faded into the background as Yukine closed his eyes, concentrating.

And despite himself, he remembered the lesson from Kazuma.

 _"Tell me, Yukine. How much of the world can you see?" Kazuma didn't wait for Yukine to answer. "Think of the placement of the eyes with regards to predators and prey. Prey animals, herbivores and the like, have eyes placed on the side, so they have a wider scope of vision, whereas predators have eyes that are more frontward facing, which favors depth perception at the expense of peripheral vision. As humans, our eyesight is limited by our eye position._

 _"A god's life force gives you those eyes. It manifests the body in which your soul currently inhabits. It is the reason why you sleep and eat. It is the reason why you see."_

 _Kazuma tapped the side of his temple, knowingly. "But spirits don't see with their eyes, Yukine. By their very nature, spirits do not have any. And we as shinki are not constrained by them."_

 _"I don't get it," Yukine said. Kazuma smiled._

 _"For sake of simplicity, let's just say a human's eyesight is limited to 180 degrees of vision. Just the horizon in front of you, with blinders impeding your peripheral vision. But a spirit is not limited to just that narrow focus of sight. A spirit can see all around him, 360 degrees of perfect sight. Unlike a human, a spirit can see just as clearly what is in front of him as well as what is at the back of his head."_

 _"But you're a navigational shinki, though. Weren't you given those abilities?" Yukine said._

 _"Not quite," Kazuma said. "I will concede that it is easier for me to see than it is for others. But that doesn't mean it can't be learned. It's a skill, Yukine, much like drawing borderlines or reciting spells, and while some shinki may have a certain aptitude for it, that doesn't mean it can't be taught to others."_

 _Quietly he pulled off his necktie, then tied it around Yukine's eyes._

 _"Uh, Kazuma-san?"_

 _"My apologies, Yukine. But I do not have a proper blindfold."_

 _Kazuma's hands brushed the sides of Yukine's temples._

 _"The first step is to stop looking with your eyes and try to see the world with your mind. The world extends well beyond the limitations of human sight, and once you realize that, only then will you will truly start to see."_

In Yato's mind's eye, Yukine took a breath and closed his eyes. He could feel the faint trace of humans around him; the wisps of their life force. A flame flicker of energy. His mind reached out with a million tendrils, feeling his way around the landscape. And then...

" _Yato. There's two ayakashi at 3 o'clock, 2.5 kilometers away._ "

"You can see it, Yukine?"

" _Yeah_." Yukine nodded. " _I'll draw the borderlines for Gaiki and Suuki._ "

"Okay, Yukine! Let's do this!" Yato pumped his fist. " _Gaiki! Suuki!_ "

The bazookas formed on both his shoulders.

"MAXIMUM POWER!"

"What-" Bishamon started. "Kazuma. Did the Yatogami just-"

"He did," Kazuma said. He looked up at the sky, awestruck. "He killed two phantoms almost 3 kilometers away."

"Gaiki and Suuki never had that range, much less that accuracy," Bishamon said. Kazuma smiled.

"It was Yukine," Kazuma said.

"Eh?"

"Yukine spotted those phantoms and drew their lines for them."

Bishamon glanced back at him. Kazuma was watching, a small smile on his lips, as Yato whirled and killed phantoms well-beyond what she could do when they were her shinki. She watched as Gaiki and Suuki shot at targets kilometers away, as the arc of Yato's great machete Saiki cut through not one but a line of phantoms, the line Yukine drew for him not straight, but curved, curling across the sky like a scythe.

The lines Kazuma could draw were only straight.

Yukine, Bishamon knew, was a rare talent. A genius, in every sense of the word. And Kazuma had nurtured that. Bishamon could see the growing sense of pride in him as he watched, the barely-contained happiness for his former student starting to spill over.

The great iguana landed, and Bishamon watched as Kuraha swished his tail and Yato hopped off, calling his shinki's names and promising barbecue and beer to celebrate. Yukine was grinning. It was only then that Kazuma's face darkened, and he turned.

"Ryuunosuke?"

"I'll meet you at home," Kazuma said. He smiled. "You should give everyone your congratulations."

And she watched as Kazuma started walking home.


	32. Past

_Author's note:_ _Warnings for referenced child abuse.  
_

* * *

.

"Ryuunosuke?" Bishamon opened the door. "Is everything okay?"

Kazuma looked up. He was sitting by the window, and in the dark of the room, his body was rimmed by the light of the street lamp outside.

"I'm fine," Kazuma said. Quietly Bishamon crossed the room to stand next to him, letting her hand fall gently on his shoulder. "You aren't going to celebrate with them?"

"I told them this was a good chance to bond with the Yatogami. I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," Kazuma said again. Bishamon sat behind him and quietly rubbed the nape of his neck soothingly.

"Give him time," Bishamon said. "Like the Yatogami said, Sekki is just a teen. Teenagers are notoriously fickle with their feelings. I'm sure he'll come around again, once this whole thing blows over."

Kazuma said nothing. He stared quietly at his hands.

"It is not so simple as that," Kazuma said, finally. Bishamon tilted her head at him, quizzically. Kazuma continued. "He has a lot of trust issues because of what happened with his father."

"His father?" Bishamon said. Kazuma nodded.

"His father was alcoholic. He used to beat him when he got angry."

"Oh dear," Bishamon said. Kazuma shook his head.

"That's not the worst of it," Kazuma said. "He died after being beaten and locked in a closet for five days without food or water. His father apparently had forgotten he was locked in there. He only came up to look for him when his neighbors started complaining about the smell."

Bishamon gasped. Kazuma nodded.

"Yato found him haunting the mailbox where he used to wait for his mother and sister's letters."

Kazuma looked out the window, quietly. "The thing that really bothers me, though, and what really hurts Yato, is that despite all of this, Yukine really loved his father. All he ever wanted was to make his father proud," Kazuma said. "One kind word would be enough to make Yukine happy for days.

"His last moments were horrifying," Kazuma said, quietly. "For five days and nights he sobbed and screamed at his father to please let him out, that he'd be good and he'd do anything for him. Toward his last hours, he was so dehydrated he couldn't make anymore tears. He had been shouting and crying for so long that he lost his voice, and his hands were beaten bloody from trying to bang open the door."

Kazuma lapsed into silence again. Outside, she could hear the sounds of Yato and her shinki laughing, heading out toward the restaurant.

"Did you know, Veena, that when Yukine was a child, he wanted to be an astronaut?" Kazuma said. "He used to love the nighttime. The quiet of it. But now he's so afraid of the dark he can't even look at the stars.

"Yato takes him out, sometimes. I don't know if you've noticed, but whenever Yato goes out, the moon seems to shine just a little more brightly, and it's bright enough so that Yukine feels safe. And Yato will point out the different constellations, making up some and letting Yukine correct him."

Kazuma smiled a little at that. He folded his hands in his lap, quietly.

"Anyway, I don't blame him for why he doesn't trust me anymore," Kazuma said. "Even if I'd known what he'd been through, I probably would have still betrayed him. The thought of it makes me feel ashamed."

His hands on his lap tightened into fists, which Bishamon covered with her hand, gently.

"There's nothing you can do to change the past," Bishamon said. "The only thing you can do now is keep moving forward."

"I know," Kazuma said, and they both fell silent. They looked out into the darkness, neither one of them saying anything as they watched Yato goof off with his shinki through the window.


	33. Drain

.

.

"Mommy, look! A lizard!"

"Where?" the woman said. The little girl tugged her arm and pointed.

"There! There!"

"Where?" she said, and she turned to see the horse-sized iguana staring at them, its marbled eyes sliding toward them.

She shrieked and dropped her bags, grabbing her kid and pulling her back into the store.

"Ugh, _Yato_ ," Yukine said. He was holding a fly swatter and glaring at him. "You forgot to change back Kurane again!"

"Huh?" Yato said. He was leaning on the folded stack of futons and leafing through a magazine. "I didn't forget to change him - he asked me to let him stay like that."

Outside, a small crowd gathered. "Mommy mommy, can I ride him?" A small coterie of children ran around the magnificent lizard, pointing and squealing while their parents snapped pictures.

"Wait, really?" Yukine said. He and Yato peered out the attic window and watched as a few families began to gather. "Hey look, Yato! There's Ebisu."

"Look at the little boy petting him! How cute!"

"Mommy can I pet him?"

"I want to pet him, too!"

"Ebisu?" Daikoku said. He and Kofuku walked outside, puzzled by the commotion. Ebisu was petting the iguana's head. He jumped off the rock, smiling.

"Kofuku-san! Daikoku-san! You should consider charging money for him!" Ebisu said.

"Yeah!" Kofuku said. She twirled. "We should charge _a lot_ of money for him! 1 million yen per picture!"

"Hmm, Kofuku-san, I don't think that would be feasible," Ebisu said.

"Yeah you're right, Ebibi-chan! _Ten million_ yen for a picture!"

"Oi, stop scarin' the kids," Daikoku said, and he plucked Kofuku away from the crowd.

After the crowd dissipated (after a few kids climbed up on the iguana, squealing and freaking out their parents, who were nervous the iguana would bite), Yato and Yukine came down, puzzled. Slowly, the iguana ambled back on top of the rock. Its movements were lethargic, calculated, and the loose skin of its dewlaps swung heavily as its forked tongue flicked the air.

"Yo, Kurane. You sure you don't want me to change you back?" Yato said. The iguana turned his head.

" _Do not trouble yourself, Yato-sama. I am enjoying myself sunbathing on this rock._ "

"Kuraha always did enjoy staying as a lion," Bishamon said. Yato and Yukine turned.

"Oh, chijou. What are you doin' here?" Yato said.

"Just saying hello," Bishamon said, and she reached a hand to stroke the side of the iguana's head. "Kuraha. How are you?"

" _I am well, Ojou. The Yatogami and his lead make a formidable team._ "

"I saw," Bishamon said, smiling. She straightened, turning to Yato.

"Thank you," Bishamon said. "For taking care of my family."

"You know, you can have 'em back if you want," Yato said. "I kept their old names. And it's not like they're better off with me. I'm a nameless god, too."

She ran her hand along Kuraha's spines, skimming the bright green scales thoughtfully.

"I'm not at my full strength," Bishamon said. "They deserve a god who can take care of them properly."

"Well, if ya change your mind, just lemme know," Yato said. Bishamon smiled.

She hasn't been acting the same, recently. Somehow, she seemed just a shade more pale, just a little more tired. Yato was a god, and he could see things that humans and shinki couldn't see: that her godly aura was weakened. Not as much as when she was blighted, but still considerable.

"What is it, Yato?" Yukine said. Yato shook his head.

"That chick's getting weaker," Yato said. Yukine tilted his head. "I wouldn't worry too much about it," Yato said. "She lost access to over half of her followers when heaven took away her name. But she still has tons of worshipers in other places. All she needs to do is start proselytizing under her old name."

"Is that why she won't take back her old shinki?" Yukine said. Yato nodded.

"Probably," Yato said. "She probably just has the strength to keep Nana's name. I don't think she has the capacity to carry her old load."

xXx

.

"You guys ready to patrol?!" Yato said. His shinki nodded.

"Yeah!" they said. Karuha and Kazuha pumped their arms and Yugiha nodded, emphatically.

"Okay!" Yato said, and he called out.

"AIKI! JINKI! SHUUKI!"

Flashes of light cut forward as he called the names.

"SAIKI! GAIKI! SUUKI!"

More flashes of light. Kuraha was already in his iguana form, on which Yato jumped happily.

"SEKKI!" Yato said, and Yukine flashed, twin blades criss-crossing the back of Yato's jean jacket, the tattered bandages catching a sudden gust of wind.

"All right, you guys!" Yato said, and Kuraha leapt forward.

"LET'S GO!"

xXx

.

" _Yato,_ " Yukine said. " _To your six, there's a bunch of ayakashi chasing an unbound spirit down the road. It looks like they already attacked_ ," Yukine said, and the great iguana whirled around, turning to see the spirit running down the road, screaming and ducking as a group of ayakashi attacked him.

"The guy already bitten, Yukine?"

" _Yeah_ ," Yukine said. " _But we can still save him_."

"Sounds good enough for me!" Yato said, and Kuraha leapt forward.

"GAIKI! SUUKI!"

The two bazookas materialized.

" _Fire!_ " Yukine said. The bazookas followed his lines.

" _Yato! There's another phantom just five meters ahead._ "

"SAIKI!" Yato said, and Yugiha's great machete manifested.

" _Drawing Yugiha's borderlines_ ," Yukine said. " _Yato, you can cut when ready!_ "

"Got it, Yukine!" Yato said, and jumped off of Kuraha's back and started speed-skating forward.

"You, who would desecrate the land of the rising sun-"

Yukine could feel Yato's power, the growing flame flicker of his life force wrapping around Yugiha's weapon form.

"With my advent, I, the Yato God, lay waste with the Saiki and expel thy vast defilement!"

His life force concentrated around the edge of Yugiha's blade.

"REND!" Yato said, and the machete slashed through the phantoms with one powerful strike, the phantoms screaming and dissipating into the air.

Yato landed. In front of him, the spirit trembled. Yukine could see the corruption on the spirit's shoulder.

"Yukine. Can you see where he's been corrupted?"

" _Yeah_ ," Yukine said. Yato grinned.

"You're up, Yukine," Yato said. "SEKKI."

His blades manifested in both hands.

" _What's he going to do?_ " Aiha said. Kinuha nodded toward them.

" _Yukine is going to cut out those impurities himself_."

The other shinki gasped. Yato gripped his swords.

"REND!"

One clean slice, and all the impurities fell away. Unlike when Bishamon used Kazuma, the spirit didn't feel any pain.

"Th-thank you," the spirit said. He bowed in front of Yato, gratefully. "How can I ever repay you?"

"Just hold on a second," Yato said, and he raised his sword.

In Yato's mindscape, the other shinki whispered to themselves.

" _What is he doing?_ "

" _Is the Yatogami going to name him?_ "

" _Probably. That's what Ane-sama used to do whenever we rescued torn spirits_ ," Kinuha said.

"What? You think I'm stupid or something? I ain't gonna name him," Yato said. His shinki gasped. Yato grinned.

"I'm gonna do something better. You ready, Yukine?"

" _Yeah_ ," Yukine said. Yato lifted his swords.

"REND!" Yato said, and the blades of Sekki neatly severed the ties that were keeping the spirit bound to the Near Shore. The spirit looked up at Yato, startled.

"I-" the spirit looked up at him. "I don't have my memories."

"You're not bound here anymore," Yato said. Sekki dissipated as Yato helped him on his feet. "Look around you. Can you see it? Amanogawa? The river of heaven?"

"Y-yes." The spirit looked out into the horizon, tearfully. Slowly his form started to sparkle, motes of white light drifting off of him like rising ash.

"Follow the river to its end. That way you can be reincarnated."

"Thank you," the spirit said. His form slowly faded. "For the first time, I feel as though I can finally rest."

"Oi! Just remember to pray to the Yato God when you're reincarnated!" Yato said, and the spirit smiled, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Remember that name! Yato! Okay?"

"Thank you, Yatogami." The spirit faded, motes of light drifting into the air.

" _Wow._ " In Yato's mindscape, Aiha and the other shinki stared at them, awestruck. " _Yato-sama. What did you do?_ "

"Yukine and I cut his ties for him," Yato said. He sheathed Sekki back into the waistband of his pants, skating toward Kuraha. "Now he can be reincarnated."

The iguana looked at Yato, awestruck.

" _So this is how the great Yato-sama helps those who are torn._ "

xXx

.

"Ane-sama!" Bishamon's old shinki ran toward her, bubbling with excitement over seeing how the Yato God saves spirits. "Ane-sama! You should have seen the Yato God!"

"He rescued a torn spirit from phantoms and he used his Sekki to cut the impurities away!"

"The spirit didn't even feel any pain! Not like when you used chouki and Akiha!"

"And Ane-sama! He didn't have to name the spirit - he just cut his ties! And now the torn spirit can be reincarnated!"

"The Yatogami is indeed an amazing god."

xXx

.

"Yo," Yato said. It was night time and he was sitting on the porch, drinking a beer and looking at the stars. "Dontcha have a date with Kazuma?"

Bishamon sat carefully next to him, sitting on the edge of the porch.

"My Kazuma isn't feeling well. I thought I would give him some space," Bishamon said. Yato looked at her and drank, the blue of his eyes seeming to glow a bit in the moonlight. "My old shinki told me how you're using the combat team. I must say, Yatogami, I am quite impressed."

"It's not me, it's Yukine," Yato said. He swirled his beer, thoughtfully. "He's the one who can coordinate all of them."

"You must be very proud," Bishamon said, smiling. Yato nodded.

"He's my kid," Yato said, and he took a swig of beer.

Above them, the stars twinkled. It was a nice night, warm and without much wind, and the sound of insects rose softly in the distance.

"Kazuma's draining you, isn't he?" Yato said. Bishamon blinked, surprised. Yato wasn't looking at her, just focusing his gaze on the moon above them. "That's why you can't be in the same room as him. His emotions are destabilizing him."

Bishamon watched Yato's face, which was traced with starlight, and at first didn't say anything. Kazuma was right - when the Yatogami was around, the moon did seem to shine just a bit brighter, its rays somehow stronger where Yato was sitting. Bishamon blinked and stared at her hands.

"He is. A little," Bishamon said. Her eyes flicked upward. Yato's eyes narrowed.

"Oi, Bishamon. You can't let him stay like this," Yato said. "He's an untethered soul, a friggin black hole. He'll be dangerous to you unless you go ahead and name him."

"It isn't like that." Bishamon's face was pinched. "Most of the time, he's fine. It's only when he starts thinking about the old days and Yukine that he starts draining me."

"Does he know?" Yato glanced at her again, his face half-hidden by the can of beer. "Does he know he's weakening you?"

"No," Bishamon said. She looked back at her hands. "And I don't intend on telling him."

"Why?" Yato said. "'Cuz you know he'd leave if he knew he was hurting you?"

"Yes," Bishamon said, and Yato blinked, surprised.

"Yatogami," Bishamon began, and she hesitated. "What would you do if it were Iki Hiyori?"

Yato sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I still think you should name him," Yato said.

"Yatogami-"

"Look, I can tell the others I released him. And even if he doesn't remember what happened, what's the big deal?"

"A God's Greatest Secret, that's the big deal," Bishamon said.

They both lapsed into silence, not saying anything.

"He's gonna figure it out, y'know," Yato said, finally. "He's already worried about you. And that in and of itself is probably making you sicker."

"I appreciate your concern, Yatogami, but I assure you I am fine," Bishamon said. "But more to the point, Yatogami. How are things with you and Yukine?" Yato glanced up at her, surprised.

"Kazuma told me," Bishamon said. "He told me about the crack in his name."

"Shit," Yato breathed and he stared at his can of beer.

"It sucks, doesn't it, Bishamon? Staying up and worrying about our kids?"

Bishamon's mouth quirked. "I would hardly call Kazuma my kid," Bishamon said.

"Okay then, chijou. Worrying about my kid and your boyfriend."

"Ha."

"Seriously, though," Yato said, and he looked upward. "It sucks bein' a god and being unable to provide for them. It killed me, not having the means to take care of Yukine. He should've been with a proper god, not some nameless loser digging around through the garbage."

"Or worse yet, a cold, emotionless god, whose shinki would cry out but for one drop of simple affection."

"Heh. To gods of calamity and gods of fortune," Yato said, and he tossed her a beer. Bishamon smiled.

"May we be the better for all our blunders," Bishamon said.

They both took a drink. Behind them, the rice paper door opened. They both looked up and turned.

"Yato-chan? Bisha? You two done moping now?" Kofuku stuck her head out of the door.

"Kofuku," Yato said.

"Kofuku-dono," Bishamon said. Kofuku smiled.


	34. A Relationship (MATURE)

.

.

Kazuma was asleep. His body was less like an untethered spirit's and more like a shinki's, and as a result he needed to sleep. Quietly Bishamon shut the door behind her and crawled beside him, cupping her body against his spine.

"Veena?"

"Did I wake you?" she asked. He rolled over, smiling at her.

"That's okay," he said, smiling, and he nudged his cheek against her neck, sighing quietly. She kissed his brow and turned on her side, letting him spoon her from behind. His arm was draped around her chest, and in the faint moonlight she could see traces of welts and bruises he had received when he was alive.

The bruises worried her. A god's life force healed the wounds a spirit sustained while he was alive, and Bishamon knew he was beginning to deteriorate by the thumb-print bruises and light scratches that were starting to appear on his skin. It was an easy barometer - the more stable his spirit, the less visible his old injuries. When he was ill and close to fading, his body had the same look as when he died - open wounds and shallow scratches, flecks of dried blood on his temples and on raw, exposed skin. The first night they made love, she could see the mottled bruises start to recede, so that the only mark on his body was the old scar from Saiki's blade, back from when he protected Yato when she tried to cut him. Carefully, she let her fingertips graze the tender skin around his arm and wrist, worrying a little over the spot.

The next morning, her eyes cracked open to see those wounds had completely disappeared. It was just Kazuma's arm and Kazuma's wrist; warm, pale skin without the bruise.

xXx

.

The first night they were together, after the near disastrous reunion at Iki Hiyori's, Bishamon marveled silently at how quickly Kazuma had stabilized. One moment, his form was diaphanous, only his head and the tops of his shoulders barely visible; the next, he was solid, still frail and covered with wounds, but someone whose bony hand she could touch, and clasp into hers.

"The Yatogami lent us some clothes," Bishamon said. They had just finished making love for the first time since he was alive, and after they both cuddled on the futon in a drowsy stupor, they finally dragged themselves up to shower and clean themselves. "I think he has pajamas here as well."

She handed him a pair of pajama pants and a white T-shirt - soft and well-worn and thankfully freshly laundered - and as Kazuma pulled on the shirt she could see the smooth, unmarked skin stretching over his ribs.

His ribs had been broken the night he had died, a boot-sized welt where he had been kicked, the telltale flush of blood from where his lung had been punctured. He didn't seem to notice the change except that he seemed to inhabit a physical body again. She turned off the light and crawled next to him.

"Is this really happening?" Kazuma asked. She kissed him and smiled, pulling a blanket over the both of them. "Veena?"

"I'd say it is," Bishamon said, smiling. She pressed a light kiss behind his ear, before moving to kiss his mouth. He sighed and she felt him thicken and harden, and she laughed softly, nuzzling against him.

"Round two?" she said. He laughed softly.

"O-okay." He smiled shyly as she pulled up on top of him, pulling off her nightgown with one sure motion.

The clock ticked, and in the darkness there was nothing but quiet, ragged breathing and the smacking sound of wet warm flesh, her body moving rhythmically over his. And after she came, after he rolled her over and shyly kissed her nipples, he circled her body with his arms and moved inside her with long, smooth strokes. And she wondered briefly to herself, _Why didn't they do this earlier?_

She knew he wanted to. She felt it through their connection - that endearing mix of embarrassment and desire.

xXx

.

Kazuma was helping her out with her work. While Bishamon could coast with eerily spot-on predictions of the stock market, suddenly she was asked to join "meetings" and prepare "powerpoints" and go over "numbers" from the last quarter.

"Veena, I've compiled your report," Kazuma said. Predictably, the other office workers didn't notice the man in the suit leaning over one of their top broker's computer. "The presentation is ready as well. Shall I go over it with you?"

"Can I just read it off the slide?" Bishamon asked. Kazuma smiled.

"Of course," Kazuma said. "I've also prepared notecards for you."

"Miyagi-san?" One of her co-workers knocked on her door. "Do you have a minute?" he asked.

"Oh, Hasebe-san. Give me a second," Bishamon said. Kazuma straightened. Her co-worker blinked, staring at him.

"Who's this?" he asked. She glanced back at Kazuma. Knowing him, he probably assumed she would introduce him as a friend or a personal assistant. Bishamon smiled.

"This is my husband, Kazuma," Bishamon said, smiling. "He works on another floor."

For a brief moment, Kazuma seemed stunned. He quickly caught himself, introducing himself to her co-worker.

Her co-worker left. From the corner of her eye, she could see Kazuma standing, shakily.

"V-Veena."

"Hm?"

"...I think I'm going to cry."

"What?" she laughed and hugged him. "You're the one who filed that marriage certificate," Bishamon reminded him. He blushed, smiling. The tops of his ears turned red.

They walked back from the train station. Hesitantly, his fingers brushed against her hand. She smiled and gripped his hand firmly.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What the-"

Their heads snapped up, staring wide-eyed as Yato cut through the air wearing that hideous idol outfit, waving around twin bazookas and a machete and riding on top of a giant iguana.


	35. Battle

.

.

Streaks of sunlight cut through parted clouds, and in the bright wash of light Bishamon could see the sorcerer's silhouette, staff in his hand and looking down upon her.

"V-Veena."

Bishamon crawled on her knees toward him. There were cuts on her thighs and arms and blood smeared across her temple. Kazuma was lying on the ground, the dark steam of blight rising off of him like smoke, and the bare skin of her shoulders and thighs mirrored the burns coming off of him.

"Don't talk," Bishamon said. Her voice was choked. Tears filled her eyes as long, damp strands of hair fell over her forehead. In her mind's eye, Nana watched, quietly. "Don't talk, Kazuma. You're going to be okay."

"I just...I wanted to protect you."

"I know," Bishamon said, and she started to cry.

Above her, the sorcerer laughed. Just a few moments ago, Chiki had speared through the meat of Kazuma's shoulder, slicing through an area of blight and nearly shattering his name. The name on his hand was cracked, but like Yukine's, the crack was barely visible.

xXx

.

Bishamon screamed. She hurled herself through the heavens, waving Shikki and rocketing through the air.

 _"Y-Yato!_ " Yukine turned. " _Something's happening to Bishamon!_ "

If Kazuma died, there was no point to live. Let her be reincarnated. Let the other gods and Her Majesty burn.

"Yes," Fujisaki said. He hovered above them, smiling. "It's not only me you wish to kill. Go on, Bishamon," Fujisaki said. "Show your rage to the light of all heaven."

Bishamon screamed again. Shikki's sword rose, its blade glinting, crashing like thunder and striking the air.

" _Closer_ ," Nana said. She held her arm out, the round orb of the sun just beyond her hand. " _Just a little closer..._ "

SLAM! Nana's eyes widened. Yato and his hafuri blocked the strike that was supposed to cleave the sun.

"Dammit, chijou!" Yato said. Yukine's blades bent under the weight. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"OUT OF MY WAY!" Bishamon said, and she pulled back and struck again, but Yato shoved forward, blocking her path. The whites of her eyes had turned black. Her hair whipped around her bare arms wildly, and her teeth had grown into fangs.

"You're turning into a magatsukami!" Yato said. Bishamon roared and struck, but Yato countered. "If you keep this up there's no going back!"

"HE KILLED MY KAZUMA!" She exploded forward, screaming. "I'LL KILL HIM! I'LL KILL ALL OF THEM!"

"Bishamon!" Yato said, and Bishamon swung wildly, all brute force and blind, savage rage. "Bishamon, stop it!"

" _Yato! She's powered up like crazy, I don't know if I can hold her back!_ " Yukine said. Yato gritted his teeth. Bishamon surged forward.

A flash of lightning. Yato threw his head back to see Takemikazuchi and Kiun coming toward him.

"T-Take-asshole..."

"The sentiment is the same," Takemikazuchi said. He stood on top of Kiun's dragon form, his hair whipping around him like banners. "That woman is too far gone. But together we may stand a chance."

"O-oi! Asshole! I told ya, it's not Bishamon, it's my dad-"

"Nevertheless," Takemikazuchi said, and his face was pinched.

"We must do all we can right now to stop Bishamon."

xXx

.

In the darkness of Kofuku's guest room, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

How close had she come to losing herself? To becoming a wretched God of Calamity? Humans do cruel things to protect each other, and slowly she's come to the realization that gods are equally as ferocious. Quietly, Bishamon ran a brush down the length of her hair, looking at the hollow cheeks and sunken eyes, and wondered to herself about the nature of change.

If Yato had not exposed his father, she would have been executed and Kazuma would have been killed. It was only by the grace of heaven that the two of them survived.

Kazuma was sleeping. Quietly she curled her body against the curve of his back, and rested her cheek against his pillow.

She knew that Yato was right. That the best thing for her would be to rename him. But if renaming a spirit was akin to a god reincarnating, she didn't want to risk it - not when she had almost lost him in the midst of battle once before.


	36. A Crack, part 2

.

.

 _It's dark._

Hands balled up into fists, pounding against the door.

("Yukine.")

 _Eyes scrunched up, teeth clenching. Throat hurts from screaming_. ("Oi, Yukine!")

 _Pounding louder. Screaming._ ("YUKINE!")

" _Yukine-san?!_ " The rest of the team stared at him as Yukine blinked, seated in the middle of Yato's mindscape, the rush of whatever-the-fuck that was somehow ending. " _Yukine-san, are you okay?!_ "

" _I'm fine,_ " Yukine said. Vaguely he was aware of the thin blue gems floating in Yato's mindscape, pockets of power that could level up each shinki's weapon form.

Suddenly he remembered: he was trying to draw lines for Gaiki and Suuki when he caught wind of another ayakashi at 3 o'clock, and somehow in-between trying to re-direct the twins' lines and adjust for the trajectory of the storm that was forming behind him, he suddenly started having those weird images.

" _I started seeing things,_ " Yukine said. " _Like I was locked in a dark room-_ "

"Don't pay attention to it, Yukine," Yato said. Yukine and the other shinki glanced up.

" _Yato. You could see it?_ " Yukine asked.

"Yeah, Yukine. Sometimes ya tap into the phantoms' negative energy when you're seeing with your mind like that. Just ignore it, Yukine."

" _Do you think Kazuma-san tapped into those things too?"_ Karuha asked. The other shinki glanced at each other, nervously.

"Tch. Probably. Just shut up a minute and lemme concentrate on the storm."

They finished their patrol. Kuraha landed gracefully on Kofuku's lawn, Yato sliding off his back and making a little pirouette on his rollerskates.

"Okay. Aine, Kazune, Karune."

The shinki began zapping into human form.

"Akine, Kinune, Yugine, Yukine.

Yo, Kinki, you wanna stay a dragon or a human?"

" _Dragon, Yato-sama._ "

"Ha ha, that's what I thought! Okay everyone, good job!"

"Wait, Yato," Yukine said, following after him. Yato turned.

"What is it, Yukine?" Yato said.

"That stuff I was seeing," Yukine said. He rubbed his shoulder, frowning. "They kinda felt like memories."

Yato clapped his shoulder. "Ayakashi storms always feel like that, Yukine. They're like floating farts of negative energy."

"Ew."

"My point is, Yukine, don't think too much about it. Humans are susceptible to that kind of stuff, just try not to dwell on it."

Yukine frowned.

His mark was burning. Maybe it was from the strain of trying to coordinate all those shinki, or maybe it was because his mind had stumbled upon a minefield of ayakashi negative energy. Yukine frowned and thought about how Nora had struck him, and what Yato had said about her weakening his name.

"I'm not gonna sting Yato." Yukine looked at himself in the mirror. "I'm not gonna sting Yato."

The crack in his name widened.

xXx

.

The next day, Yato took a different approach to patrol.

" _Okay, Yato! I've drawn the twins' borderlines. Fire when ready!_ "

"That's okay, Yukine!" Yato said, and he held out his hand.

"SEKKI!"

Yukine's blades materialized in Yato's hand.

" _Yato, what are you doing?_ " Yukine said.

"Usin' you, Yukine! Let's go slice up some phantoms!"

And Yato leapt off of Kuraha's back, wielding his swords.

xXx

.

"Yato-sama. Excuse me, Yato-sama?"

Kinuha rushed up behind Yato, who was walking back to Kofuku's house.

"Yeah, Kinune?" Yato turned around.

For the last few days, Yato had only been using shinki who could draw their own borderlines. He used Kinuha's whip form and Yukine's twin blades, but he kept the twins and Yugiha de-materialized. "The others are wondering," Kinuha began. "Have they done something wrong?"

"Eh?" Yato said. Kinuha knitted her brow.

"The twins and Yugiha have noticed you haven't been using them much," Kinuha said. "While I appreciate you using my whip form more, the others are getting restless. They want to participate with you and Yukine-san on patrol."

"Oh. Well. About that." Yato rubbed his neck. "It's not, um. It's not anything to do with you guys."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Well. It's just, in order for Yukine to draw their lines, I haveta keep him partially materialized." Yato wasn't looking at her when he spoke. "I mean, Sekki's a weapon and he costs a lot of energy, and um. I don't have a lot of believers. I mean, there's my piece of shit dad, and then there's Hiyori. And uh. It's just easier for me to use Sekki directly."

"Oh," Kinuha said. She nodded. "I see."

"Yeah," Yato said. He finally met her gaze. "Bishamon could handle all you guys cuz Kazuma was just an earring, plus the fact that she had a ton of believers. And Kazuma's weapon form was technically a divine garment, those types of shinki are pretty cost efficient, energy-wise. I mean, unless they have to guard against an attack or something. Heh. Not that Kazuma ever had to worry about that, since he was just a stupid nail."

"I understand, Yato-sama," Kinuha nodded emphatically. "Forgive me for bringing up such a sensitive subject."

"Just don't tell Yukine, okay?" Yato didn't look at her. "I mean, the kid's kinda sensitive about this stuff, I don't want him to think I'm blamin' him or something. He can't help it that he has a shitty master."

"I understand," Kinuha said again. "But forgive me for disagreeing, Yato-sama. I do not think you are a 'shitty master.'"

xXx

.

In Kofuku's attic, Yato closed his eyes and located Yukine's name.

He never had more than one shinki with his life signature before. While it was true he held onto Nora for centuries, her name was imbued with the life forces of countless gods, her energy signature was like a warm red glow within the blue of his mental landscape. Bishamon's old shinki, though, pulsed with the energy from Yato's life; each name, each shape and curve, was strong and solid. Quietly he sifted through the names like cards until he came upon Yukine's.

Yukine was a hafuri; his name held more weight, and the density of their connection was easily twice that of his connection with the other shinki. Even when surrounded by other names, Yato could pick out Yukine's easily.

Is this what it was like for Kazuma and the stupid skank? Yato wondered. He plucked Yukine's name from the others and turned it over in his mind.

The crack was widening. The strain of having to coordinate all those other shinki was putting stress on the seal on his memories.

He couldn't let Yukine know the reason why he wasn't letting him draw lines for the others. Silently he hoped the gossip would come around, that Yukine would hear second-hand that Yato was a second-rate god who didn't have the stamina to handle all those shinki at once. Yukine was protective but also pragmatic, and Yato knew he wouldn't do anything if he thought it would harm Yato.

Yato sighed heavily. The only thing he was good at, besides killing, was lying. Making up excuses to evade his shitty dad.

In meantime, he would do whatever it took to bolster Yukine's confidence. To hope that the crack would reseal itself through the strength of his connection.

"Hey, Yukine!" Yato said, and he slapped Yukine on the back. "Good job today, Yukine!"

"Ugh, Yato," Yukine said. "I'm tryin' to do my homework!"

"Heh heh. You're just a regular scholar, huh, Yukine?"

"Dammit, Yato," Yukine muttered, but Yato could see the faint dusting of pink on Yukine's cheeks. He grinned and sat next to him, cracking open a can of beer.


	37. Release

.

.

"Well, why don't you just rename him?" Kazuma said.

Yato and Kazuma were sitting on Kofuku's porch, mulling over their options. "You suggested that with Tsuguha, right? If you release him and rename him, the second time his name should be restored."

"It doesn't work like that," Yato said, frowning. "The name's the only thing sealing Yukine's memories, right? The second I release him, those memories are gonna come flooding out and the process'll speed up. Worst case scenario, he still transforms into a phantom, and I'll have to kill him anyway. Best case scenario, Yukine becomes a faded ghost that's nothing but residual emotion, and he ends up haunting wherever the hell I release him. "

"Is that so bad, though? It happened to me, I just got my memories back, I haven't faded."

"Yeah, but the skank released you earlier in the process. Yukine's more unstable."

"Well...then can you not have another god name him, while he still has your name?" Kazuma said. "If another god's life force tethers him, maybe it'll reinforce the crack? Then that way you can release and rename him." Yato shook his head.

"Dad's chiki interferes with a god's connection. Any god's connection. Strays should theoretically be stronger since they can draw from the life force of other gods, but chiki strikes all names at the same place. Even if I got your skank or Kofuku or Tenjin to name him, the crack'll still manifest in the same place."

"Then why did you tell Veena to release Tsuguha?" Kazuma said. Yato shook his head.

"'Cuz that chick would've endangered you and all her other shinki. She wasn't contained. It would've been better if the skank released her and let her spirit decay."

"So there's nothing you can do," Kazuma said. Yato hunched over. Kazuma smiled wryly."I suppose this is what you'd call a 'supremely fucked up situation.'"

"Heh. Look at you, all cursin' like a sailor."

"What about your other shinki, though?" Kazuma said. "If what you said about Tsuguha is true, then Daikoku and the rest of the team are in danger." Yato waved his hand.

"It's under control," Yato said. "Yukine only started havin' those flashbacks when he was exerting himself, as long as I can redirect him we'll be fine. In the meantime, I need to go track down my asshole dad."

"So you can try to find a cure?"

Yato nodded. "That guy has to have a way to reverse Liberation," Yato said. "He already told me he intends to take Yukine. He wouldn't let chiki strike him unless there was a way to stop it."

"He's gone into hiding ever since you revealed him to heaven. Do you really think you can find him?" Kazuma said. Yato shrugged.

"I can try," Yato said. Kazuma folded his hands.

"A shame I don't have my abilities anymore," Kazuma said. "I'm certain that if I were still Chouki, I could help you find him."

"No offense, Kazuma, but my dad's not some kind of phantom. And masks are harder to spot, besides."

Kazuma shrugged. "I found you, didn't I?"

"Eh?"

"Back during the Ma clan." Kazuma carefully dusted his lap, standing. "I used my abilities to track you, and that was back before I was even a hafuri. I would imagine finding a human wouldn't be much more difficult than finding a god."

Yato frowned, thoughtfully. Kazuma nodded knowingly, then started to walk back into the house.

"Hey, Kazuma?"

Kazuma stopped. "Yes, Yato?"

"Be mindful of your feelings when you're around Bishamon," Yato said. "When you get stressed out, it affects her worse than when you were a shinki, since you're just a ghost and you don't have that connection."

"Is something wrong?" Kazuma asked, alarmed. Yato shook his head.

"No, but the skank was lookin' like crap the other day, and I figured you were probably ruminating over something stupid or whatever. And you know that chick tends to bottle shit up, she's not gonna tell ya if she's not feeling good."

"Why wouldn't she tell me?" Kazuma said. His form wavered. Yato could hear the worry creeping into his voice.

"Tch! 'Cuz telling you would make you freak out, like you're doin' now! Ugh, Kazuma, you're draining my life force, get a grip okay?"

"Sorry." Kazuma took a breath. His body grew more solid again. Yato shook his head.

"Just remember to leave the room if you start getting depressed or whatever," Yato said. "You ghosts are friggin' black holes, Kazuma! And by the way, when you get like that, stay away from Hiyori! You don't wanna accidentally suck out her soul."

xXx

.

"Ugh, Aine! What is going on with you?" Karuha said. She and Kazuha were watching TV while Aiha was darting in and out of the shower. They were staying in an apartment - Bishamon's old apartment, actually, which the shinki took turns fortifying with a few well-placed borderlines.

"Nothing!" Aiha said. She threw a towel over her head, glaring. "I just feel like taking a shower, alright?"

"Six showers in a day, Aine?"

"Yeah, seriously Aine. What is up with you?"

"You guys aren't his divine garment, okay!" Aiha said. Her eyes widened. She gasped and clapped her hands over her mouth, appalled.

"Forgive me, Yato-sama," Aiha said, turning pale. "I hope I didn't sting you."

"W-what do you mean, sting him?" Yugiha looked up at Aiha with wide, innocent eyes.

"It's just..." Aiha shuddered.

"What?" The twins and Yugiha looked at her expectantly.

"It's just...I can't be the only one who notices how much he sweats, right?"

"Aine, seriously?" Kazuha said, frowning.

"No, really!" Aiha said. "His hands are sweaty and he sweats a lot _down there,_ " her voice dropped to a scandalized whisper. "His feet get sweaty in my rollerskates too, and every time he wears me I have to take a shower."

"Well at least Yato-sama actually uses you," Karuha said, crossing her arms.

"Huh?" Aiha said. Karuha and Kazuha glanced at each other.

"You haven't noticed?" Kazuha said. "The Yatogami stopped using us and Saiki."

"It's because Yukine-san takes too much energy drawing our lines."

"Wow, really?" Aiha said. "I guess he's been using Kinune and Akine so much, I didn't notice."

"He doesn't even use Kinune that much, since she's a whip and he's a god who does cutting."

"You guys," Yugiha said, nervously. "We shouldn't be complaining. We might start blighting him." The twins shook their head.

"The Yatogami said airing out our frustration was better than bottling it up, remember?"

"And he said we could complain to him anytime."

"His shinki always left him because he couldn't provide for them, you know. The Yatogami is used to it."

"Used to what?" Kinuha said. She and Akiha were carrying bags of groceries from the supermarket.

"Complaining," Yugiha said. The twins glared and elbowed him in the ribs. Kinuha raised an eyebrow.

"We were just saying how it sucks that Yukine-san is a weapon instead of a garment, and how the Yatogami doesn't use us anymore," Karuha said. Kinuha sighed heavily.

"Everyone, I already told you. The Yatogami's energy reserves are limited. The Sekki will draw your lines only when it's absolutely necessary."

"Not like you care, Kinune. The Yatogami uses you all the time," Kazuha grumbled.

"Hardly," Kinuha said. She set down the groceries, frowning. "My weapon form is a whip, remember? The Yatogami prefers to cut."

"O-Okinu-san! Everyone! Let's remember that we're all a team," Akiha said, holding up his hands. As a knife, he was the only one of Bishamon's battle shinki that the Yatogami used consistently. Everyone in the room looked at him and frowned.

"Oh my _god_." Aiha's voice filtered in the background. "Even my hair smells like sweat! Oh my god!"

"It's too bad we can't ask Kazuma-san," Yugiha said, shyly. The other shinki turned.

"Kazuma-san?"

"What do you mean, Kazuma-san?"

"I-I mean, the Yatogami named him, right?" Yugiha pressed his index fingers together, blushing. "Kazuma-san worked with us for centuries. A-and he's still a divine garment. Yukine-san said Kazuma-san was a shoe."

Kinuha snapped her fingers. "That's right, Yugiha," Kinuha said. "Kazuma-san should still have his abilities. And since he's a shoe, he wouldn't take up as much energy."

"But I'm a pair of rollerskates, how's the Yatogami gonna use me and a single shoe?" Aiha said.

"Well, gods don't have to materialize their weapons, right?" Kinuha knitted her brow. "In fact, Ane-sama kept Saiki's great sword form dematerialized until she needed to manifest him. The Yatogami could just do the same with Kazuma-san's shoe."

"But Okinu-san, the Yatogami told us that Kazuma-san won't work with him," Akiha said.

"That's true, he only named him so he can protect Ane-sama." Kinuha frowned. "Well, patrol is only a few hours of the day, and by then, Ane-sama is with her Shikki, right? I'm sure if we ask Ane-sama to borrow him, she'd let Kazuma-san rejoin the team."

"Yeah!" Karuha pumped her fist. "And Yukine-san won't have to worry about drawing our borderlines and the Yatogami won't have to waste any more energy using him!"

"And he can still use Sekki to cut people's ties, Kazuma-san can just draw our borderlines to fight phantoms!" Kazuha said.

"Not to mention Yukine-san is Kazuma-san's student, I'm sure he'd love for him to join him!" Karuha added.

"Let's ask him," Kinuha said. The twins and Yugiha cheered. In the background, Aiha shouted.

"Wait, you guys! Don't go to Ane-sama yet, I need to take another shower!"

xXx

.

Bishamon and Kazuma were walking back from the train station when Bishamon's old combat shinki approached.

"Ane-sama." Kinuha walked forward, the twins and Yugiha flanking beside her. "May we have a word with you?"

"Is something wrong?" Bishamon said. Kinuha nodded.

"Well, yes and no," Kinuha said. She glanced at the others before turning to her. "We were wondering if we could borrow Kazuma-san during our daily patrol?"

"What?" Bishamon glanced at Kazuma, whose expression she could read perfectly: _Crap_. Kinuha continued.

"We know the Yatogami named him so he could protect you, Ane-sama, but-"

The twins cut in excitedly. "But the Yatogami doesn't use us because it takes too much energy for Sekki to draw our lines, since Sekki is a weapon and not a divine garment-"

"And we were hoping Kazuma-san, I mean Ryuune-san, I mean _Ryuunosuke-san_ , uh-"

"We were hoping Ryuunosuke-san could join us and draw our lines for us, since manifesting a single shoe wouldn't take as much energy as manifesting Sekki's blades," Kinuha explained. The twins nodded behind her emphatically.

Bishamon and Kazuma glanced at each other. "But shinki all take the same amount of energy, regardless if they're a weapon or a divine garment," Bishamon said. "The Yatogami should be able to allow Sekki to navigate just as easily as I could my Kazuma. I don't see why that would be a problem." Kazuma held up his hand.

"You forget, Veena, that Yato is a minor god, without much in the way of believers. He is probably more sensitive to energy fluctuations than you are." He gave her a look: _Don't say anything, I'll ask Yato about this later._ "If Yato is saying it takes more energy to manifest a weapon, then we should take him at his word." He looked at her again; Bishamon blinked, then nodded.

"Ah, of course, Kazuma. I was taking the strength of my name for granted."

"An easy mistake for someone who was once a Lucky God."

"So Kazuma-san, do you think you can lead us?" Karuha said.

Kazuma glanced behind her shoulder. His eyes widened.

The shinki turned. Yukine was standing behind them.

"Oh, Yukine-san," Karuha said. "We were just talking about you."

Yukine was holding a schoolbag. His grip on the strap tightened.

"It's almost the witching hour," Yukine said. "Yato asked me to look for you so we could start patrol."

"Oh, Yukine-san! We were just talking about that. We thought we'd ask Kazuma-san to join us this time, that way he can draw our lines."

Yukine's gaze shifted from the shinki to Kazuma. The shinki glanced at each other, nervously. They remembered how Yato specifically told them _not_ to tell Yukine about Sekki's energy expenditure, since Yato didn't want Yukine to worry about him.

"I-it's not that using Sekki takes too much energy!" Yugiha said, stupidly. "I-it's because we worked with Kazuma-san for so long, a-and we thought..." Yugiha trailed off, awkwardly. "W-we thought maybe Kazuma-san could c-coordinate us."

"Well that makes sense," Yukine said. "Kazuma-san was your leader for centuries, after all." Yukine sounded fine. He shifted the strap to his backpack nonchalantly. "Kazuma-san, you should join us. It's better for the team, after all."

"Yukine, um. May we talk in private?" Kazuma said. Yukine shook his head.

"Don't worry, Kazuma-san," Yukine said. "I only want what's best for Yato."

Kazuma glanced at Bishamon, worried. The other shinki grinned and high-fived each other.

"Well the thing of it is," Kazuma said, still looking at Bishamon. _What the hell do I do?_ "The thing of it is, Yukine, about my name, um-"

"The thing of it is, I already released him," Yato said.

The other shinki glanced up. Yato was standing on top of a light pole, which he leaped off, landing on the ground, gracefully.

"Yato," Yukine said. The shinki murmured quietly.

"Look, I just did it as a favor to stabilize him, since he was decaying as a ghost. And he's stabilized! And since he was just a crappy shoe, I went ahead and released him." Yato crossed his arms. "Oi! Stop lookin' at me like that! A god's will is always right!"

"But Yato-sama. We were hoping that Kazuma-san could take over and lead us," Kinuha said. "Not because of Sekki's energy expenditure, or anything!" she added, quickly. "But because we've worked together as a team for so long."

"Yato-sama. Maybe you can rename him?"

Behind them, a shadow had fallen over Yukine's eyes. He wasn't looking at them. His hand tightened over the strap of his backpack. No one else noticed. They looked at Yato hopefully.

"Yeah, Yato, you should rename him," Yukine said. There was a shadow over his eyes. "He'd do a better job than me unifying the team."

"O-oh! Yukine-san!" The twins looked back at him. "We didn't mean to insult you, Yukine-san!"

Yukine looked up. The shadow lifted. "Don't worry about it," Yukine said. Silently he rubbed the mark on his shoulder.


	38. Search

.

.

The stars were out tonight, and beneath the great expanse of dark sky one could see the small silhouettes of a nameless god and his shinki walking along the river.

"Look, Yukine," Yato said, and he pointed. "You can see the unicorn."

"Pegasus," Yukine said, automatically. Yato frowned and squinted.

"Yo Yukine, I'm pretty sure it's a unicorn."

"Tch."

"Gods are always right, Yukine! What do I have to tell you?"

They stood at the riverbank, looking upwards. "That one looks like a walrus," Yato said, and he traced the pattern with his hand. "See that circle, Yukine? That totally makes a walrus."

"That's Ursa Major, Yato."

"Eh?"

Yukine pointed. "That star right there is Epsulon Ursae Majoris. You can tell 'cuz if you trace the stars around it, it looks like a ladle."

"Hah? That looks like a box of cereal to me."

"That's the big dipper."

"I thought ya said it was a bear?"

Yukine sighed. "The big dipper is part of Ursa Major."

Yato grinned and ruffled his hair.

xXx

.

It was a nice night. There was just a sliver of moon above them, but it still shone just as brightly as if it were full. Yukine walked with his hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on the fireflies darting across the horizon, and didn't make mention of the Kazuma debacle that took place a few hours before.

"Yukine-san, please forgive us," Kinuha said. "We didn't come to Kazuma-san meaning to undermine you."

At the time, Yato had braced himself for the crack to widen, expecting another outbrust or flashback of memories. But there was none. "It's okay," Yukine kept saying. "Kazuma was your leader. It's only natural you'd want to work with him."

Yato watched, silently. In his mind's eye, Yukine's name didn't waver.

He wasn't technically lying when he told Kinuha about those energy fluctuations. Divine garments do take less energy to manifest than weapons. But the energy difference was negligible, unless one shinki was actually being active doing something. And it just so happened that weapons tended to do more things than divine garments.

What he didn't tell everyone, though, was that those energy differences didn't actually tax him. It was just something he noticed, like if he was running, how the muscles of his legs would get a little more tired than the muscles in his arms. If he was running around and swinging a sword, the degree of tiredness from his individual limbs didn't really matter.

"Hey, Yato?" Yukine's voice interrupted Yato's thoughts.

"Yeah?" Yato said. Yukine frowned.

"I know you released Kazuma-san because of me."

Yato opened his mouth to speak, then thought the better of it. Yukine continued.

"I'm sorry," Yukine said. "I know I've been acting selfishly, but I really want what's best for you. And Kazuma-san would have been a good addition to the team. I think he could have really worked well with you."

"Yukine," Yato said. "What the others said...it didn't bother you?" Yukine shook his head.

"I don't care what they think, Yato." Yukine kept his eyes fixed on the horizon. "You're my master. I don't care what the others think of me."

"I was thinking you might get upset," Yato said. Yukine shook his head.

"They were telling the truth. They'd rather work with Kazuma-san. I'd rather they say it to my face instead of lying to me."

"Oh," Yato said. He scratched his foot against his leg, awkwardly.

"You know, Yukine, not all lies are bad." Yato fiddled with his sleeves. "Sometimes people lie to protect other people. Sometimes they don't have a choice."

"People only lie 'cuz they don't want to face the consequences," Yukine said. He looked out across the river, at the trickle of moonlight skimming the water.

"I know that you lie to me sometimes, Yato. And I really wish you wouldn't."

Yato looked at him evenly. "What do you mean, Yukine?"

"I mean, when you went to work with Nora behind my back. Or when you didn't tell me about your past. I hope you know you can be honest with me."

Yukine looked out across the river. In the darkness, Yato could just barely make out his features, which seemed impossibly placid. Calm.

"Yato," Yukine said, and his eyes slid upwards, meeting his. "The images I've been seeing. They're memories, aren't they?"

Yato's eyes widened.

"You can tell me," Yukine said. "I already know about your past. There isn't anything you need to hide from me."

Yato didn't look at him. "I don't want to lie to you anymore, Yukine," Yato said. "But you need to understand that there are some things I can't answer."

"Because you don't trust me?" The question was loaded, but the strength in his name didn't waver.

"No," Yato said. "Because there are some things a shinki just can't know."

Yukine nodded quietly. "Fair enough," Yukine said, and he tossed a rock into the river.

xXx

.

After a few hours, Yukine finally fell into a restless sleep.

There was a sound, and Yukine's eyes jerked open. The attic was dark except for the small lamp Yukine kept lit next to the futon, and across from him, Nana was snoring. Yato's futon was empty.

Yato was out again - it wasn't unusual for Yato to disappear in the middle of the night, and before Kazuma taught him how to see with his mind, Yukine would panic, would think that Yato was out talking to Nora or Father or somehow disappeared in Yomi. Yukine closed his eyes and felt around for a trace of Yato's life signature, and felt it flickering around the riverside where they had been walking earlier.

He probably wanted to be alone with his thoughts at the moment. Yukine wouldn't begrudge him that. Yato had seemed visibly shaken when Yukine had asked about the images, and as he lay in the futon he realized the reason why.

Those images weren't just images. They were memories. Yato's memories. Memories of Yato's father.

Yukine's fist tightened. The memories themselves didn't make any sense, but what Yukine could piece out were the feelings - hopelessness, abandonment. Hurt and despair and a heart-shattering, soul piercing rage. "My dad is an asshole," Yato had told everyone, but Yukine knew the extent to it. He thought about the dogs in masks, how Nora spoke to him. He knew that as a small child, Yato had been abused.

He threw off the futon cover. He didn't like walking out into the dark alone, but the moon was out and now was the only time. He could only do this while Yato was gone.

"The hell are you doin'?" Nana said.

Yukine turned. Nana, who had been snoring in the futon in the corner, had somehow woken up - apparently Yukine's hostility and anger was enough to shake her from her sleep, and she sat up on the futon, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," Yukine said. He turned back toward the attic door. "Go back to sleep, Nana."

Nana gave him a look, like she was deciding whether or not she wanted to argue with him, then asked, "so if you're going, can I turn off the light, then?"

"Yeah," Yukine said. "Knock yourself out."

Nana grinned, then gave the cord to the lamp an expert tug, until the lamp was close enough for her to switch off. Yukine sighed heavily and walked downstairs.

The courtyard in front of Kofuku's little store was eerily quiet, and as Yukine's eyes adjusted to the dark he could just make out the large, looming shapes of wooden beams and cheerful flags hanging above him.

The heavens have been trying to find Yato's dad for the past few months now, but none of them had Kazuma's navigational ability, and only Yukine knew how to use it. Quietly he closed his eyes and let his mind spread out like a thin blanket, tendrils of consciousness searching and reaching every corner.

 _There_. Yukine's eyes opened. The signature was faint - something human, but also inhuman, a soul that was split, not unlike Hiyori's. He leaped onto the fence and squinted his eyes at the dark.

xXx

.

Yukine ran. His feet pounded against the pavement as he followed the signal that was flickering in front of him like a beacon. None of the trains were running and he wasn't sure he would get there on time.

" _Yukine-san_."

Yukine looked up. Kuraha's iguana form ambled forward, stepping into the ring of light from the street lamps above him. " _You seem to be in a hurry, Yukine-san_."

Yukine threw a glance back at the horizon; the signal wasn't moving, but he wasn't sure how long it would still be there.

"Sorry, Kurane, there's somewhere I have to be right now," Yukine said. Kuraha's tongue flickered.

" _Perhaps it would be quicker if I take you there?_ "

Yukine glanced back at him. Kuraha's eyes slid toward him like marbles. His large tail swished like a prehistoric oar.

The sorcerer was a good twenty kilometers away from them, right at the edge of the city's periphery. Even though he was a shinki, there was no way he could make it there on foot. He looked at Kurane and nodded.

"Yeah," Yukine said. "Maybe if you drop me off somewhere close by?"

" _I would be happy to, Yukine-san. Please get on my back. If you feel like you're about to slip, go ahead and hang on to my scales._ "

"Thanks, Kurane," Yukine said, and he jumped on.

The iguana soared. Cutting through the darkness, Yukine held on to the tufts of Kuraha's fringe and squinted his eyes against the gusts of wind blowing past him. Dark clouds flew by on either side, and below him, he could see the lights of the city spanning across the dark landscape like stars. _Good thing I'm not afraid of heights_ , Yukine thought. Kuraha bounded through the crowds before landing gracefully onto an open field.

" _We are here, Yukine-san. Although I don't see much of anything around here. I take it this field is where you and the Yatogami hone your combat skills?_ "

"Not exactly. I'm just going to take a look around," Yukine said. "Don't wait for me, I'll take the train home afterwards."

The iguana nodded gravely.

" _Train well, Yukine-san. I shall see you at breakfast later this morning._ "

"Er, okay," Yukine said, nodding. The iguana gave him one last nod before leaping out into the dark.


	39. Father

.

.

The graveyard shift was the shittiest shift, if you asked Fujisaki's opinion, but at the very least, there weren't too many people who would bother him. He worked behind the register wearing his stupid striped shirt and his stupid little hat, and while the occasional drunk customer or super-late salaryman came into the convenience store looking for prepackaged cold noodles or single-serve underwear (ew), Fujisaki mostly had the store to himself. So he put his feet up, scratched the head of one of his wolves, and spent his night staring idly at the tiny TV pushed up against the counter corner.

The door opened; the electronic doorbell rang cheerfully.

"Welcome to the store!" Fujisaki said, looking at his nails. From the corner of his eye, the customer stood in front of the register, not moving.

"Mr. Customer. Can I help you?" Fujisaki said, and as he lifted his eyes he came face to face with Yukine, whose hand was already in a halberd and was staring at him with daggers in his eyes.

xXx

.

"Yukine! _Yukine_!" Yato was running around the courtyard when Kuraha landed smartly. "Where the hell are you, Yukine?!"

" _Yato-sama,_ " Kuraha said. " _Is something wrong?_ "

"Oi, Kurane!" Yato said. He started running toward him, Kofuku and Bishamon standing behind him, worried. "Kurane! Did you see Yukine?!"

" _I did, Yato-sama. I took him to the field where he was going to train._ "

"Wait, what field? What do you mean, train?" Yato's eyes were wild.

xXx

.

"Oh shit!" Fujisaki said, laughing. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Yukine was glaring. Both his hands were clenched into fists.

"You piece of shit, sorcerer," Yukine said. "I've come here to keep you from Yato."

"Oh, really?" Fujisaki said. He spread his arms. "Look around you, pipsqueak. We're in the middle of a freaking _convenience store_. There's like, civilians and shit over here. But if you wanna wait a bit, my shift gets out in a couple hours-"

"A LINE!"

SLAM. A borderline smashed into the glass cabinet behind him, shattering the glass. The customers in the store shrieked.

"What just happened?!"

"Is there a storm?!"

Fujisaki narrowed his eyes. "Oi, kid," Fujisaki said. "I don't know what my dipshit son told you, but you're supposed to protect Near Shore life, not kill it."

Another line slammed into the register, throwing Fujisaki back. Yukine took a step forward.

xXx

.

"He's not here!" Yato jumped off of Kuraha's back, searching around the field frantically. "I don't see him! Are you sure this is where you left him?!"

" _I'm sure, Yato-sama. Yukine-san led me here himself_."

"Calm yourself, Yatogami," Bishamon said. "Your Yukine may have gone somewhere else to train."

"He ain't training, Bishamon." Yato's eyes darted around him. "He's suckin' my life force at an enormous rate. Yukine is fighting somewhere and our connection is fraying."

"What?!"

xXx

.

"A LINE! A LINE! _A LINE_!"

"Shit!" Fujisaki said. His wolves were torn into bloody pieces. Glass shards burst. Items from the shelves exploded in all directions. Customers screamed and scattered as Yukine stalked forward.

"Guess what, asshole," Yukine said. "Yato already told me your weakness. You can't do jack shit while you're still in that body."

Fujisaki reached for his brush, but a sharp line knocked it out of his hand.

"I heard that borderlines can't do shit against gods," Yukine said, and he lifted his hand into a halberd. "But let's see what happens if a god is stuck in a human's body."

He lifted his hand into a halberd.

 _"You little piece of shit, what do you think you're doing-"_

 _"Mommy don't leave me, please I'll be good-"_

 _"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE ALL OF YOU!_ "

What were these voices? Yukine's head was spinning.

Fujisaki smirked. Yukine's eyes were wide. He stood paralyzed, crouching on the floor.

"You like what you see?" Fujisaki said. He smiled meanly. A trickle of blood dripped down his temple. "You were so sure of yourself earlier. But now you can hardly get your bearings."

 _"DAD!" Bloody fists pounding on the door. "DAD! PLEASE! DAD!"_

"You were right, of course. The moment I fall asleep, you could beat me by destroying my body."

 _He fell on his knees weeping. "Dad! DAD!"_

"You sure did a lot of damage to my masks, though," Fujisaki mused. He walked around Yukine, thoughtfully. "And you're definitely a bad influence on my Yaboku."

Yukine's breath came out in ragged pants. His eyes were wide and darting wildly.

"I could reverse it, you know. Just another move by my chiki, and I can heal that crack easily. But you know what, Yukine-kun?"

Fujisaki smiled.

"When you turn, I'll have you wear one of these masks. I've never had a phantom who was born from Liberation."

The neon lights blinked. Yukine screamed.


	40. Rescue

_Author's note:_ _Warnings for referenced child abuse.  
_

* * *

.

" _You seem to be in a hurry, Yukine-san_."

Kazuma opened his eyes, shifting a little in the dark. Veena was still sleeping on top of him; her body was warm and her face was tucked against the side of his neck. He was about to drift back to sleep when he heard another voice breaking the silence.

"Sorry, Kurane, there's somewhere I have to be right now." It was Yukine's voice, coming from the courtyard. _That's odd,_ Kazuma thought. Carefully he moved his arm from around Veena's waist and picked up his glasses, looking out the window.

In the courtyard below him, Yukine was clambering onto Kuraha's back, the great iguana's tail swishing a little as Yukine got his bearings. Kuraha took a few steps forward before leaping into the air, his thick tail swinging behind him like a rudder.

Kazuma jogged down toward the courtyard, frowning and looking around. Something was wrong, but he couldn't place it. Quietly he hopped onto a lightpole - something he still wasn't used to, leaping long distances the way Iki Hiyori did when she slipped into spirit form - and squinted his eyes, watching as the dark shape of Kuraha and Yukine grew smaller into the distance. Yukine probably wouldn't appreciate him following him, but he couldn't shake that feeling he had, the same feeling he had when Veena disappeared inexplicably during the Colloquy. _Well, I'll just make sure he doesn't see me_ , Kazuma thought, and as he followed them he made sure to keep his distance.

The field Kuraha landed in was only a few kilometers away from the neighboring town, and it was only after Kuraha leaped away that Yukine started walking in that direction.

The street was empty. Kazuma could hear Yukine's footsteps echoing hurriedly down the pavement. It didn't surprise him: even though there were street lamps, it was still dark out, and the buildings around them were closed. Even Kazuma was getting a little nervous - as a spirit, he had no way to defend himself from phantoms. At the very least he could recite spells, but if a phantom attacked, he might not have time to react.

 _Yukine_ , Kazuma thought to himself. _What on earth are you doing here?_

xXx

.

Yukine was writhing on the floor, his eyes squeezed shut and his face contorted. He was making harsh, guttural grunting sounds, curling up on his side as if he were suffering from the most exquisite gas pain. Fujisaki frowned a little, then nudged Yukine with the side of his foot.

"Father. Why aren't you reversing Liberation?" Mizuchi floated serenely next to him, watching Yukine the way a child would watch an upturned beetle writhe around on the grass. She was wearing an eyepatch; after their confrontation with Bishamon, that damn Kazuma managed to strike a line into the flesh of her eye, blinding her temporarily but not enough for her to counter and slice through the meat of his arm. "I thought you wanted him to be one of your shinki?" Her small mouth turned down at the corners in slight distaste. Fujisaki patted her on the head reassuringly.

"I can't name him until Yaboku releases him, and we both know that idiot son of mine isn't going to do that," Fujisaki said. "If he turns into a phantom, that stupid name Yaboku gave him will go away. All I need to do is give him my mask, and once he calms down, I can rename him."

"Will you reverse Liberation then, Father?" Mizuchi asked. Yukine cried out and curled up on his side, shaking.

"Probably. We'll see. He might be more useful to me as a phantom," Fujisaki said. Yukine whimpered and rolled on the floor.

Outside the store, Kazuma crouched low, peering through the windows. The heavens had been searching for Fujisaki and Nora for months now, and yet the sorcerer had the audacity to hide in plain sight. It was a wonder that Yukine managed to find him.

Kazuma narrowed his eyes. Spells wouldn't work on them - he didn't know all of Nora's names and the sorcerer's identity was hidden. And though he could probably bind the vessel of Fujisaki Kouto, that wouldn't stop the sorcerer from leaping out in spirit form and calling out Nora's name.

"Oh man," Fujisaki was saying. "Yaboku must be really freaking out right now. Hold on a second, lemme make it so this kid won't sting him."

"I thought you wanted to teach Yato a lesson, Father?"

"A lesson, yeah. But I don't wanna kill him."

There was a broken mop handle outside the store, debris from when Yukine had started throwing his lines. Quietly Kazuma closed his hand along the smooth wood and took a breath, infusing it with his life force.

"Are you sure this is prudent, Father?" Mizuchi said, frowning. Yukine's skin had turned gray and fine blue veins cracked around his face. Yukine cried out, agonized. The crack in his name snaked around his collarbone.

"Eh, don't worry!" Fujisaki said. "It's not as bad as it looks. Just stay back, Mizuchi. Once this name cracks I don't want you to get caught up in it, too."

The wood crackled. If he were a shinki, making a scourged weapon required siphoning off the life force of his god, draining them and stinging them in the process. As a spirit, he had limited energy from which to draw from, but he hoped it was enough. Energy sparked around his hand.

xXx

.

 _"Please!" Yukine said. He banged his fists against the door. "Please, dad! Let me out!"_

 _His knuckles were bleeding from punching the cellar door. "Please!" Yukine sobbed. He fell to his knees, crying. "Please! PLEASE!"_

 _No one could hear him. He cried quietly and sagged on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest._

 _Hours passed. Slowly, a puddle of urine spread across the concrete floor._

 _Voices whispered in his head._

 _Seriously, did this kid just piss himself?_

 _What a worthless piece of shit, he deserves whatever he gets..._

 _Now he was standing alone in a white room. Across from him, he could see Yato and his shinki staring down at him._

 _"Yato!" Yukine started, but slowly Yato turned so that his back was facing him. The other shinki stared at him blankly._

 _"Hey!" Yukine said. He waved his hand. "Everyone! Where are you going?"_

 _One by one, the shinki turned their backs to him, walking away from him with Yato._

 _"Hey!" Yukine said. "Hey! HEY!"_

 _"Of course no one would respect you," Kazuma said._

 _Yukine whirled around. They were standing in that dark room again. Yukine was standing next to him, but on the floor, he could see himself curled up on his side, whimpering softly and lying in a puddle of urine. His hands were curled up by his face and wrapped with makeshift bandages, strips of fabric torn from a few dirty rags to stop the bleeding of his knuckles. Kazuma frowned, then tapped his foot against the body. "This is what you're really like," Kazuma said. Yukine gaped at him._

 _"No," Yukine said. "No, Kazuma-san, that isn't me-"_

 _"Of course it's you, Yukine." Kazuma's eyes flicked up toward him. "Let me show you what I think of you."_

 _A strike._

 _Yukine pitched sideways, but the one who punched him wasn't Kazuma-san. It was..._

 _A dark, looming shape. The smell of beer and stale cigarettes. His hand coming up like a fist._

 _A strike._

 _Who is this guy?_

 _"You little piece of shit, you had one job to do and yet you still got caught fucking shoplifting!"_

 _I can't see his face, who is this guy?_

 _"One. Fucking. JOB! You fucking worthless piece of shit, S_!"_

Yukine's eyes snapped open. Fujisaki and Mizuchi bent forward.

" _Did you know, Yukine-kun, that nobody likes you?"_

 _Hiyori sat in front of him, her tail waving behind her placidly._

 _"W-what do you mean, Hiyori? Why would you say that? Don't you know that hurts my feelings? I thought you were my friend."_

 _"No, Yukine-kun," Hiyori said. "I was never your friend._

 _No one is your friend. Not even the family who abandoned you."_

A tear rolled down the side of Yukine's face. Mizuchi and Fujisaki peered closer.

An explosion of power rocketed through the store, Yukine screaming, his body twisting and taking shape. His hands morphed into claws and his back grew twisted and pointed. Fujisaki and Mizuchi jumped back as Yukine wailed and gnashed his teeth, his eyes dripping blood like tears.

"YUKINE!" Kazuma said, and he sprinted forward, slamming the scourged staff against Fujisaki's side.

"Aggh, dammit, Mizuchi!" Fujisaki said. "Protect your Father! What the hell are you doing?!"

Kazuma threw his staff up, blocking the line that came barreling toward him.

"Yukine!" Kazuma whirled around. "Try to fight it, Yukine!"

He turned hard, expecting to see Fujisaki to take a stance; but Fujisaki's body was slumped on the floor. Kazuma's eyes widened.

" _Come, Chiki!_ "

A flash of light. Kazuma spun around to see Fujisaki standing in front of him in monks' robes, carrying his staff, glittering in his hand.

"You goddamn nerd," Fujisaki said. He spun chiki around his arm and thrust, slicing into Kazuma's arm. "Trying to play soldier, huh?"

Chiki whacked against Kazuma's hand, making him cry out. He dropped the staff, which crackled and shrank on the floor.

"Hm? What's this? Bishamon give you another name?" Fujisaki stepped forward. "A real shame to use Liberation on you again. But I suppose the stupid ones never learn."

"I don't have a name, Fujisaki." Kazuma held his arm, which was hanging loosely and dripping blood. "Liberation won't work on me."

"Wait, seriously? You're a friggin' ghost?!" Fujisaki laughed and leaned on his staff, grinning. "That's even better! Chiki's great at exorcising ghosts!"

Yukine was still doubled over. His body was shaking. Great phantom wings sprouted over his shoulderblades.

"See, 'cuz unlike shinki, ghosts can just turn right into ayakashi. There's nothing stopping them. There isn't a name to hold it back." Fujisaki snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Oh, don't believe me? Look at your arm," Fujisaki said, and Kazuma looked, saw how the shape of his arm started to waver. "Ha! See, what'd I tell ya? Plus you used up half your life force making that staff over there, you make my job really easy!"

"I'm not going to turn into a phantom, Fujisaki." Kazuma breathed hard, clutching his arm. "I have no regrets about how I died."

"How did you die, anyway?" Fujisaki said. He leaned against his staff, bored. "Got killed by a bunch of robbers? Or were you a soldier, who got blown up in the battlefield? From the way you handled that spear, I bet you were a really shitty soldier."

" _Father. You accomplish nothing by taunting him._ " Mizuchi frowned slightly in Fujisaki's mindscape. " _Yukine is about to turn._ "

"Yeah yeah, you're right, Mizuchi." Fujisaki grinned and scratched his staff against his back. He pointed at Kazuma. "Okay then. So you don't regret how you died. What do you regret? There's gotta be something. Everyone's got karma, you know."

Kazuma glared. Fujisaki poked him with Chiki against the shoulder.

"C'mon Kazuma," Fujisaki said. "Think of my Chiki as a little bit of truth serum. You know you want to spill it, so tell me. What is it you regret?"

"I'll only regret if I don't save Yukine."

"HO!" Fujisaki said, laughing. "Oh geez, you hear that, Mizuchi? This is like, fucking codependency right here!"

"Yukine, I'm sorry," Kazuma said. "I should never have abandoned you."

" _Father. Yukine is close to turning. I suggest we kill Kazuma and get ready to draw on a mask._ "

"Maybe for once, I should actually listen to my exemplar," Fujisaki said, and he held up his staff. The pointed end glinted. "Say goodbye, Kazuma-san."

" _A LINE_!"

Fujisaki pitched sideways, the edge of Yukine's line catching him against the arm.

Kazuma sat up. "Yukine!"

Yukine breathed hard and clutched his arm, his shaking fingers formed into a halberd.

"Oh man," Fujisaki groaned. "What a fucking hallmark moment. You gotta be shitting me."

"Yukine! Get his body! His vessel is lying over there!" Kazuma said.

"Dammit! Revert, Mizuchi!" Fujisaki said, and Nora materialized beside him. "Grab my body. That kid's in no shape to fight but I don't wanna fucking test it!"

"K-Kazuma-san-" Yukine let out a strangled gasp, then buckled, landing on his knees. "Kazuma-san...what's happening...to me?"

"It's okay, Yukine," Kazuma said. He caught Yukine by the shoulder.

xXx

.

 _"You piece of shit, S_, no one likes you, you know it's true."_

 _The words echoed in his mind as he cried out hoarsely in the cellar._

 _"Dad!" Yukine sobbed and banged on the doors. "Dad! Please, dad!"_

 _He sobbed. His throat was burning. There were streaks of blood on the ragged wood, and the skin had long since sloughed off around the bony points of his knuckles._

 _Now Yukine stood in front of his body, watching it lying in the middle of the cellar. His body was thin and weak and his clothes were soiled with urine and excrement, and his thin hands were bandaged with torn up rags.  
_

 _This is who I am, Yukine thought. He nudged his body with his foot, looking at the bumps of his spine and the darkness around his collarbone._

 _My name isn't Yukine, Yukine realized. My name is-  
_

"Yukine!"

Yukine's eyes snapped open. Kazuma was dragging him back into the courtyard. "Hang in there, Yukine!"

"Yukine!" Yato and Bishamon came running into the courtyard.

"H-he just left me there." Tears welled up in Yukine's eyes. "My dad. H-he just left me there to die."

Kazuma hefted him closer. "It's okay, Yukine, we'll be home soon."

"My name's not Yukine, Kazuma-san." Yukine's eyes were wild. Glassy. "My name is-"

 _Seiji! You fucking moron, Seiji!_

 _Don't you know your mom hates you, Seiji!_

 _Don't you get it, Seiji? No one cares that you had died._

"My name is Seiji," Yukine said. And there was a bright light, growing inside the pit of Yukine's belly - a starburst of white, suddenly going nova.


	41. Kid, part 2

_Author's note:_ _Warnings for child abuse.  
_

* * *

.

His hands were bruised and bloody from banging on the cellar doors, and after a few days, he gave up, realizing it was pointless. Earlier, he had torn the oily rags his dad had used to clean his machine parts and wrapped them around his knuckles like bandages, hoping for a little bit of padding while he tried to punch open the door. It didn't work, and the rags just grew more soiled and bloody. He only wasted precious energy exerting himself wailing at that stupid door.

There was a thin trickle of light that came from a pinhole opening above him. In its thin beam, he could see motes of dust floating serenely. His lips were parched and his tongue was cracked, and weakly he moved his hand, reaching out to trace the small dot of light that landed on the concrete floor.

Was anyone looking for him? Did anyone miss him? His skin hung loosely from his gaunt frame, his body peppered with a multitude of cuts and bruises. Just a few days ago, he had pissed his dad off one final time, using shitty store-bought dye to bleach his hair into a cheerful blond. "What the fuck is this?!" his father roared, and he bore the brunt of the slap across his face almost indifferently.

Stupid. It was all so fucking stupid. His thin hands snaked spider-like across the concrete, feeling the grainy dirtiness of the floor and the now-dried puddles of excrement and vomit that coated his body. His birthday was coming up and he wanted to go to the post office, since he knew his mom and sister probably wrote him some letters. II wish I could read those letters/i, he thought to himself. It was the last coherent thought he had before he died.

He would haunt the mailbox near the post office. To normal humans, he looked like a puff of snow, caught like a mote of dust in a beam of sunlight. But to gods and shinki, he was a cold and angry adolescent, his thin arms wrapped in the burial yukata his mother had picked out for him. His hair was still bottle blond, remnants of his last teenage rebellion.

He waited for the letters. Slowly his past faded, until all he could remember was that he was waiting for something important, that he was afraid of the dark but the mailbox was at least illuminated by the street light above him.

And then, a nameless god stumbled upon him and named him, pointing his fingers into a halberd and naming him after that stupid puff of snow.


	42. Rend

.

.

Yato lied to him.

Yukine's conscious swirled.

Didn't Yato tell him those images were from ayakashi storms? Didn't Yato tell him to ignore them? Those were Yukine's memories - _Seiji's_ memories - they were his memories and Yato lied to him.

Yato was his master! How could he trust him?

The phantom wailed. What was once his body tore and stretched. His eyes sunk into the back of his head. The scales on his back glittered like a thousand stars.

"Yato-sama!" Kinuha and the other shinki ran toward him. "Yato-sama, what should we do?"

"Get back!" Yato said. "If you get too close dad's spell will affect you too!"

Bishamon took a step back. The phantom roared, floodlights of power pouring out from him. "Kazuma, what happened?"

"Yato's father brought about Yukine's transformation," Kazuma said.

"Oh my god."

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" Nana shouted. She threw her hand into a halberd. "Don't just stand there! Help me confine him!"

Kinuha and Aiha formed their hands into a halberd.

"A LINE!"

The three-sided barrier slammed closed around him.

The phantom screamed. It slammed violently against the barrier, trying to burst through it.

"Can we do an ablution?!" Kinuha said.

"No! He's not that kind of phantom, it won't work like that!" Yato said. Kofuku stepped forward.

"We have to kill him," Kofuku said. Her hair whipped around her violently.

"WHAT?!" Yato said.

"Yato-chan, if we don't act fast, Yuki will kill the other shinki." Kofuku's face was pinched. "Kokki and I can open a vent. With any luck Yuki will get sucked into it. You know that being a phantom is being in pain," Kofuku said.

"No," Yato said. He shook his head dully. "No way, Kofuku, you've got to be kidding."

"I'm sorry, Yatty," Kofuku said. Beside her, Bishamon's face was drawn.

"I can't." Yato stared at Bishamon. "Yo, back me up here, Bishamon! You know I can't do that!"

"Kofuku-dono is right, Yatogami." Bishamon wouldn't look at him. "It's what we had to do with Tsuguha."

"That was a mistake!" Yato said. He turned to Kazuma. "Kazuma, tell her! Tell her it was a mistake!"

Kazuma didn't look at him. "I...I don't know if it was a mistake-"

"DAMMIT, KAZUMA! YOU SAID KILLING HER WAS A MISTAKE, YOU SAID SO AT THE ABLUTION!"

"I don't know, Yato!" Kazuma said. "I was just trying to protect Veena, I don't know!"

The phantom roared, slamming against the barriers violently.

"You're asking me to kill my kid," Yato said. His eyes were shining. "This is my fault. I fucking failed him."

Bishamon and Kofuku didn't say anything. Yato stared at the phantom, blinking back tears.

" _Kokki_ ," Kofuku said, and she held out her fan.

xXx

.

 _"Hey, Edo-san."_

Somehow, Iki Masaomi's smiling face came back to Kazuma.

 _"Hey Edo-san, did you know, lots of my friends are ghosts!"_

 _"Well, sometimes my friends, they get hung up on stuff," Masaomi said. "I told ya, I'm kind of an exorcist. If I can figure out why they're hanging around, usually they can go ahead and pass over."_

 _"Ane-sama! Did you know how the Yatogami saved that torn spirit? He used the Sekki to cut the impurities away!"_

 _"Then he cut their ties to the Near Shore, so that they could pass over..."_

Kazuma's eyes widened. Kofuku lifted her fan.

"Wait!" Kazuma said. "We don't have to kill him."

Kofuku stopped. He turned toward Yato.

"Yato," Kazuma said. "You need to cut his ties to the Near Shore!"

"Huh?" Yato said. Gusts of light filled the courtyard. "The heck are you talking about, Kazuma?"

"It's what Iki Masaomi said, once," Kazuma said. His face was pinched, concentrating. "The dead hang on unless they let go of their regrets."

"You're seriously taking advice from Hiyori's dumbass brother?!" Yato said.

"Yato-san! Kazuma-san is right!" Kinuha said. "When we're on patrol, you cut the ties keeping spirits from reincarnating! Maybe you need to cut Yukine-san's ties too!"

"Yato-san, use me!" Akiha said. "I'm a knife. I can cut those ties too!"

"I can't!" Yato said. "If I summon you in there, you might get affected. Only someone who was already affected by my dad can get close to him. Bishamon! You think you can use Nana?!"

"I can't cut anyone's ties, Yatogami!" Bishamon threw her hand up, blocking the wind. "If you need to name Nana, then I will permit it!"

"That won't work!" Kazuma said. Yato and Bishamon turned toward him. "Nana is busy holding up the barrier. If she leaves now, the barrier will collapse!"

 _"Oi, Bishamon! Yato! What the hell are we gonna do?!"_ Daikoku said. Kazuma pushed forward.

"Yato you need to name me!" Kazuma stood in front of him, throwing an arm out to block the gust of wind. "You're the only one who can cut Yukine's ties!"

"But what about your memories?!" Yato said. None of the other shinki could hear him. Kazuma turned.

"If you use any of the other shinki, you risk putting them in danger!"

"Don't be stupid, Kazuma, let me name Nana!" Yato said. Kazuma shook his head.

"You know Yato it won't work."

"Shit!" Yato said. Behind the barrier, Yukine roared.

"Yato hurry up and name me! We don't have any time!"

"But Kazuma. If I do this, you might forget everything!" Yato said. Kazuma turned.

"I'll remember up until the day of my ablution," Kazuma said. Gusts of wind blew around him. He lowered his voice so the other shinki wouldn't hear. "Yato. If I forget, I'm counting on you. Make me confess my feelings for Veena."

"Oh shit, Kazuma, you might as well ask me to cut down the moon!"

Nana gritted her teeth, straining over the barrier. "What the hell are you guys doing? We're running out of fucking time!"

"Kazuma," Bishamon said. Kazuma hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Veena," Kazuma said. "It's the only way."

"I know," she said. She started to cry. "I know."

"What the FUCK, hurry up you guys!" Nana said. Behind her, Yukine roared.

Yato lifted his hands into a halberd.

" _You, with nowhere to go and nowhere to return, I grant you a place to belong._ "

"I love you, Veena," Kazuma said. Bishamon nodded.

"I love you too."

" _My name is Yato. Bearing a posthumous name, you shall remain here. With this name, I make thee my servant. With this name and its alternate, I use my life to make thee a shinki._ "

"This isn't goodbye," Kazuma said. He gripped her arms. "I'll still remember the centuries with you."

 _"Thou art Ryuu! Thy vessel is Long!_

" _Come!"_ Yato said, and he slashed the air.

" _LONGKI_."

A flash of light, zapping toward him. Yato extended his hand and caught the sword, which gleamed against the gusts of wind and light.

"A water blade," Yato said. He ran his finger over the edge, feeling the water. "You're just like Hiiro, Kazuma."

" _Yato, we don't have any time!_ " Kazuma's face reflected in the water. " _We need to cut Yukine's ties!_ "

"On it!" Yato leapt forward.

"LOWER THE BARRIER, NANA!"

"Shit!" Nana said, and she dropped the wall.

"Do you see it, Kazuma?!" Yato said.

Kazuma looked. He could see the infinite loop of Yukine's ties, a glittering wire tethering him to the Near Shore.

" _I see it!_ " Kazuma said. " _You can cut when ready, Yato!_ "

Yato raised his arm, hurtling toward him.

"REND!"

A slash, cutting through Yukine's ties.

An explosion. Aiha and Kinuha screamed, while Kofuku and Bishamon were thrown back violently.

Steam rose from the place where the phantom exploded. The earth was a hollowed out crater, the light from the moon drifting through the burnt limbs of trees.

Yukine sank on his hands and knees, shakily. Shirtless, the great wings of his ayakashi form began to crumble and dissipate. He looked up at Yato, holding Kazuma's weapon form, as Yato walked toward him.

"Yukine," Yato said, and he knelt beside him. "Are you okay, Yukine?"

"Y-Yato," Yukine said. He coughed, blinking his eyes.

"I thought you said Kazuma-san was a stupid shoe."


	43. End

.

.

The sun was beginning to rise. At the edge of the courtyard, Kazuma stood looking out into the horizon. Quietly Bishamon walked behind him, stepping next to him.

"Kazuma," Bishamon said. Kazuma turned. He smiled at her and took her hand.

"I assume Yato will release me soon, so that you can properly name me," Kazuma said. Bishamon looked up at him, searchingly.

"Do you remember?" she asked. He tilted his head at her quizzically.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Her grip around his hand tightened.

"I," he hesitated. "I know that Yukine succumbed to the sorcerer's spell, and that I was the only one who could cut his ties."

"Do you remember anything besides that?" Her gaze never left his. He shifted uncomfortably.

"I...I suppose I remember the day of my ablution," Kazuma said. "I'm sorry, Veena," he said, and he smiled ruefully. "But the days after that are kind of a blur. I do remember that there was some reason you couldn't name me," Kazuma said. Bishamon watched his face, blankly. "I assume it has to do with the prohibition from heaven, but I'm sure you've realized already that they never said anything about not giving back my name.

Veena?" Kazuma said, when he saw her face. He looked at her, alarmed. "Veena, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She lowered her head, a tear slipping down the side of her face. Wordlessly she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, pressing her face into his shoulder. "I'm just glad to have my Kazuma back."

Hesitantly he lifted his hand, then gently rested it on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Veena," Kazuma said, softly. "If it's about a God's Greatest Secret, I no longer remember. I have no interest in knowing how I died. The name you've given me is all that matters."

"I'm glad," Bishamon said, softly. She buried her face against his shoulder. "I'm glad to have you back, my Kazuma."

Yato and Yukine watched as Bishamon cried into Kazuma's shoulder. "What is she going to do?" Yukine said. Yato shook his head.

"She can't do anything," Yato said. "If she tells him, she risks exposing a God's Greatest Secret. She can't even tell him she loves him without possibly shattering his name."

"So she's just going to keep it a secret? Just like that?" Yukine said. He looked up at Yato, who clapped Yukine on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Yukine," Yato said. "Kazuma's my bro. He just needs Yato the Love Doctor to help him. He won't risk his name if he's the one to confess his feelings, first."

"I guess," Yukine said. He squinted his eyes and waited for the clouds to pass over.

xXx

.

In Kofuku's attic, it was as if nothing had changed.

Yato released Bishamon's shinki, and his brief stint as the Super Awesome God of Fortune ended. "It doesn't matter. I still got you, Yukine," Yato said, and Yukine rolled his eyes and muttered that he was being freaking annoying again, but if he were honest with himself, Yukine didn't mind.

Yukine remembered everything. He remembered his past; he remembered his real name and how he died.

And while the old Yukine would rail and cry angrily at the fucking shit stain that was his father, the new Yukine no longer cared. Somehow, the pain of his past life seemed infinitely minuscule compared to the mournful cries of other spirits around him. When Kazuma cut his ties, somehow Yukine's spirit transcended the boundaries between space and time, and Yukine could remember everything. Not just his life, but past reincarnations. Not just his reincarnations, but everybody's.

And he saw Kazuma's life, which fit neatly on the edge of his blade, the consequence of two hafuris suffering. The blade cut through that string and Kazuma somehow knew not to cut Yukine's memories. Only his attachment to them, the worldly angst and desire that weighed on him.

"Didja know, Yukine, that Kazuma cut your ties?"

"Yeah," Yukine said. He frowned up at Yato. "You cut ties all the time. What's so different about what he did with me?"

"He didn't just cut your ties, Yukine, he made sure you kept your memories." Yato leaned back with his hands behind his head, thoughtfully. "It's pretty impressive for a first-time blade."

The old Yukine would have felt jealous, or maybe a touch intimidated by Kazuma's feat. But now Yukine just smiled knowingly.

The first time Yato called his name since his Liberation, Yukine zapped into his hands and realized his weapon form had changed. " _Y-Yato_ ," Yukine said. " _What happened to my bandages?_ "

"You're not two blades anymore, Yukine," Yato said, and he stared at the hilt of his swords, quietly. "You've been reforged into two swords."

 _Reforged_. Yukine rolled the word in his mind like a marble. Once he was a naked blade, which needed further honing, its length heavy and unwieldly and difficult to use. Even when he became a hafuri, not everyone could handle the sharp edges that were tempered only by thin bandages wrapping around the ends like a makeshift hilt. He evolved again, and now he was not just two blades, but two swords, one whose handle fit perfectly in the palms of Yato's (stupidly sweaty) hands.

Apparently there were few hafuri like him. Kazuma told him about the three hafuri who subjugated him, shinki who had evolved past what was considered the highest form. "I never knew how humiliating it was, being forced to speak, until I had it happen to me," Kazuma said. He sat on the porch, staring at his hands, the mark of Bishamon's name showing prominently. "Yukine. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for everything that I put you through."

Yukine shook his head. Before, he raged against Kazuma as yet another person he cared about who betrayed him, but after seeing his memories he understood. Kazuma had been trying the best he could. "It's okay, Kazuma-san," Yukine said, and he smiled. "You already apologized to me before."

"I have?" Kazuma looked at him, startled. Yukine smiled.

"Yeah. Like, five times before, when you were just a ghost."

"Oh." Kazuma smiled and rubbed his neck, self-consciously. "I'm almost afraid to ask. I'm told I did a lot of things when I was a ghost."

Yukine watched him, quietly. When Bishamon renamed him, he didn't turn back into her earring: instead, he slipped into her ear as a single nail. "I suppose this means I'm no longer your hafuri," Kazuma said, but Bishamon hugged him and told him she didn't care.

xXx

.

They were leaving for India in a few weeks. Now that Bishamon didn't have a ghost sucking down her life force, she was once again able to carry her coterie of shinki. "Thank you for releasing us, Yato-sama," Kinuha said, bowing.

"Don't sweat it," Yato said. "I'm not cut out for fancy teams. I work best with just me and Sekki." In front of him, Kuraha's lion form yawned and stretched.

 _"I will admit, I shall miss being the Yatogami's dragon,"_ Kuraha said. His tail swished, lazily.

"Yo, Edo-san!" Iki Masaomi said. By this time, Hiyori had briefed him fully on the issues with a God's Greatest Secret and the importance of not telling a shinki his real name. "How are you and Bishamon?"

"We're well," Kazuma said, smiling. Hiyori had also briefed Kazuma on their short but frustrating relationship while he was stuck haunting Veena's shrine. "What brings you here, Iki-san?"

"Oh nothing much," Masaomi said. "I was just feelin' kinda bored. Hiyori was tellin' me about everything you guys went through. Like, damn. That's a lot, you know?"

"So I'm told," Kazuma said. Masaomi nodded emphatically.

"Yeah. I mean, I can't even imagine! Like, how much would it suck, finally getting to bang the chick you've been crushing on for centuries, only to freaking forget about it. You know?"

Kazuma started. "Wait, what?"

xXx

.

On the plane to India, Nana looked out of the window and watched the clouds.

Humans were the ones to cultivate things. Her new master had taught her that. Beside her, Aiha was working on another cross stitch while Karuha was kicking Kazuha's seat in front of her. "Karuha, knock it _off_ ," Kazuha said. Yugiha fiddled with a bag of peanuts while Kinuha leaned against the window.

In the aisle across from her, Bishamon and Kazuma were both asleep. Kazuma's head was resting on Bishamon's shoulder, and Bishamon's head was tipped against the window. Akiha was supposed to sit next to them, but early in the flight he found an empty row and relocated. When Nana shot him a questioning look, he just smiled and winked, tipping his hat and waving.

A few short months ago, she had been locked away for eternity in a metal box. She never thought she'd get another chance like this. Outside the window, the clouds parted, and Nana could see the vast expanse of ocean beneath her. Blue waters, the shadows of clouds and sunlight dappling the surface, and she thought to herself how amazing this is, the work of humans.

Nothing was permanent. If Nana could escape from that box, then Bishamon could be reinstated into heaven. It might take some time, but she was certain of it.

It was just like Ebisu said - everything could be negotiated.

.

.

end.


End file.
